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 OF 
 
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 THE HISTORY 
 
 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF BATH FABULOUS ACCOUNT OF ITS ANTIQUITY 
 
 AND MAGNIFICENCE LEGEND OF BLADUD AND HIS 
 
 SWINE DISCOVERY OF THE HOT SPRINGS BRITISH 
 
 HISTORY OF BLADUD ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME OF 
 
 BATH ROMAN OCCUPATION OF THAT CITY PARTICU- 
 LARS OF THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA, ITS SITE AND 
 REMAINS APOLOGY. 
 
 Tradition has ascribed the origin of the City of 
 Bath to the discovery of its salubrious waters by 
 Bladud, the son of Lud-Hudibras, a British king ; who, 
 according to the " British History," translated by 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, reigned between seven and 
 eight centuries before the Christian era. But although 
 that History has assigned the founding of the city to 
 Bladud, it makes no mention of his pigs, through 
 which, according to other authorities, he attained a 
 knowledge of the sanative virtues of its springs ! — The 
 whole circumstances, indeed, connected with this por- 
 tion of Bladud's story, are so romantic, that they can 
 be classed only among the wildest fictions of an unci- 
 vilised age. 
 
 B 
 
2 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 It is a subject much to be regretted, that the love of 
 the marvellous should, even in minds above the vulgar, 
 be sometimes so predominant, as to betray its unreflect- 
 ing votaries into a full belief in legendary absurdities, 
 however improbable in themselves, or however opposed 
 to rational deductions from authenticated history. In 
 remote ages of the world, when learning was confined to 
 a few persons, superstition and ignorance would neces- 
 sarily retard the spread of knowledge, and render the 
 mind weak and credulous ; but in more enlightened 
 times, we cannot but wonder at the credulity of those 
 whose education and station in life ought to keep them 
 far above giving credence to vague and popular tradi- 
 tions, when unsupported by historical testimony. 
 
 These remarks will not appear misplaced, when re- 
 ference is made to the legend of Bladud and his pigs, 
 and to that extensive credit which it has received, not 
 only from the populace, but also from corporate bodies, 
 and from writers of scientific pursuits and general erudi- 
 tion. Dr. Jones, a Physician, who published his " Bathes 
 of Bathes Ayde," in the time of Queen Elizabeth, about 
 1572, and Wood, an Architect, in his " Description of 
 Bath," printed in the early part of the reign of George 
 the Third, may be especially enumerated in the latter 
 class. So fully, indeed, was Dr. Jones convinced of the 
 truth of Bladud's history, that he has traced his gene- 
 alogy up to Adam ! — and Wood, whose strong passion 
 for British Archseology induced him to refer every thing in 
 which antiquity was concerned to Druidism, has given 
 such a particular account of Bladud's life and acquire- 
 ments as might lead one to imagine, that he had himself 
 been honoured with his friendship ! It may not be unin- 
 teresting to insert a few extracts from his Preface, in 
 
LF.GEXD OF BLADUD, 
 
 order to shew the credulous weakness of his understand- 
 ing on antiquarian subjects. 
 
 From the ' circumstances which he has collected,' he 
 says — " Bladud, the British Prince, ninth King of our 
 island, in the time of Brute, appears to have been a great 
 prophet, and the most eminent philosopher of all anti- 
 quity. He was the renowned Hyperborean high priest of 
 Apollo, that shined in Greece at the very time Pytha- 
 goras flourished ; and among the Grecians he bore the 
 names of Aithrobates and Abaris — names implying the 
 exalted ideas which that learned race of people had of 
 his great abilities." — 
 
 " To this famous prince, priest, and prophet," he 
 continues, " the city of Bath owes her original : an 
 original so illustrious that no city upon earth can boast 
 of a greater, since -with it the Druids of the western 
 world seem manifestly to have taken their rise. Bath 
 was not only the summer seat of Apollo himself, but the 
 place where the British Druids worshipped that god 
 with greater pomp and ceremony than he appears to 
 have been ever honoured [with] in any other part of the 
 world. 
 
 " The chief seat of Apollo must of course become 
 the chief seat of his priests ; and upon that considera- 
 tion, no pains have been wanting to collect such things 
 as are necessary to prove the city of Bath to have been 
 the metropolitan seat of the British Druids ; whose Uni- 
 versity having been founded by King Bladud, the build- 
 ing still so far exists, within eight miles of our hot foun- 
 tains, as to prove the work to have been a stupendous 
 figure of the Pythagorean system of the planetary world. 
 It is a monument that Egypt herself might boast of 
 
4 BATH A BBEY CH (JRCH. 
 
 amidst her proudest structures ; and it is a monument 
 that confirms what Caesar says of the Druids in respect 
 to their astronomical learning*." 
 
 Another extract from these " archaeological visions," 
 as they have been justly styled, will prove what ex- 
 travagant ideas have been current respecting the original 
 foundation and extent of this city. " Bath, like Alexan- 
 dria, was founded for the capital seat of a famous King ; 
 and seems to have consisted, from the very first, of three 
 principal parts, whose centres were widely detached 
 from one another. The most material part of the three 
 lay immediately round about the hot springs : the next 
 in degree stood eight miles westward from them, at a 
 place now called Stanton-drue ; and the third lay ten 
 computed miles south of the second, and fifteen of the 
 same miles southward of the hot fountains, at a place 
 now bearing the name of Okey : so that the centres of 
 the three principal parts of the city formed the angles 
 of a triangle whose base line extended fifteen com- 
 puted miles in length ; its shorter side eight of the same 
 miles ; and its longer side ten of the like miles : and 
 therefore, the magnitude of this city, in its ancient state, 
 could not have been less, in respect to the land of its 
 whole area, than that of Babylon when Cyrus took it. 
 Now, if the city had been originally surrounded with a 
 wall, Bath, in respect to her private buildings, had ap- 
 peared at this day what Babylon herself once wasf." 
 
 * The monument referred to, in the above extract, is the Druidical 
 Temple at Stanton Drew ; which, whatever it might have been originally, 
 is now reduced to a few detached, upright, and fallen blocks of stone. 
 See account of it in Saver's " Memoirs, &c. of Bristol," 4to. vol. i. 
 
 f " Description of Bath." Chap. IV. p. 41. 
 
liLADLD AND HIS .SWINE. 
 
 The substance of the legend relating to the discovery 
 of the Bath waters by Bladud, as delivered by tradi- 
 tionary fabulists, is this : — 
 
 Bladud, when a young man, being afflicted with 
 leprosy, was banished by Lud-Hudibras, his father, from 
 the British court. Before his departure the Queen gave 
 him a ring, and enjoined him to preserve it, as a token 
 by which he might be recognised, should his disease be 
 ever cured. Soon after his exile, the Prince exchanged 
 clothes with a poor shepherd, and became the servant of 
 a Swineherd, who resided near the present Keynsham. 
 But misfortune still pursuing him, the pigs entrusted to 
 his care caught the leprosy ; and Bladud, to keep this 
 disaster from his master's knowledge, drove tiiem beyond 
 the Avon, which he crossed at Swinesford. Whilst ad- 
 dressing the morning sun, and soliciting for a mitigation 
 of Heaven's wrath, his swine, as though seized with 
 frenzy, ran wildly up the valley, and plunged into the 
 warm and oozy bog, which at that time covered the spot 
 where the sanative springs of Bath emerge from their 
 boiling fountains. From this place Bladud was unable 
 to get them away, until excessive hunger, and the power- 
 ful attraction of a bag of acorns, which he shook before 
 them, overcame their obstinacy. 
 
 Having fixed on a convenient place, the anxious 
 Prince made distinct crues, or pens, for all his swine, 
 concluding that by keeping them separate and clean, the 
 infection would be the sooner eradicated : and he ob- 
 served, though without adverting to the cause, that some 
 of the herd, on being washed from the filth of the bog, 
 had already shed their leprous scales. Shortly after- 
 wards, he lost one of his best sow* ; but after a week's 
 diligent search he accidentally discovered it, wallowing, 
 
6 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 with apparent gratification, amidst the hot mire about 
 the springs. On washing her, it appeared that every 
 trace of the distemper was removed ! — • 
 
 The result may be readily guessed. Bladud quickly 
 recovered his health, by plunging night and morning 
 into the sedge and balmy waters ; and his pigs were 
 equally fortunate. He then delivered up his charge to 
 the Swineherd, and returned to court, where he soon 
 found an opportunity, whilst his parents were dining in 
 public, of putting his ring into a glass of wine intended 
 for the Queen ; who, on perceiving the precious token, 
 exclaimed in rapturous accents, " Where is Bladud, 
 my child ?" The Prince, making his way through the 
 crowd, prostrated himself at her feet, and was presently 
 known and acknowledged as the heir apparent to the 
 crown. He could not, however, be prevailed upon to 
 disclose by what means, or where, he had obtained his 
 cure. 
 
 When the rejoicings for his recovery were over, 
 Bladud went into Greece ; and fixing on Athens for the 
 chief place of his abode, he continued eleven years 
 abroad, studying philosophy, necromancy, and mathe- 
 matics. After his return to Britain, and the decease of 
 his father, he ascended the throne, and immediately 
 began to construct cisterns, or baths, about the hot 
 springs which had so miraculously contributed to his 
 cure : he also built a palace near the baths, and founded 
 a city there, to which he removed with his whole court ; 
 and which, under the appellation of Caer-bren, became 
 the principal seat of the British kings. — 
 
 Such is the legendary origin of Bath ; but as the 
 story of Bladud admits of some amusing additions, 
 a few passages are here inserted from Thompson's 
 
BRITISH HISTORY OF BLADUD. 7 
 
 translation of Monmouth's " British History;" — Book 
 11, p. 45*. 
 
 On the decease of Lud-Hudibras, " his son Bladud 
 succeeded, and reigned twenty years. He built Kaer- 
 badus, now Bath, and made hot baths in it for the benefit 
 of the Public ; which he dedicated to the goddess Minerva, 
 in whose temple he kept fires that never went out, nor 
 consumed to ashes, but as soon as they began to decay, 
 were turned into balls of stonef. About this time the 
 prophet Elias prayed that it might not rain for three 
 years and six months. This prince was a very ingenious 
 man, and taught necromancy in his kingdom ; nor left off 
 pursuing his magical operations till he attempted to fly 
 to the upper region of the air, with wings he had pre- 
 
 * The translator, in his Preface, argues very strongly in support of 
 the truth of the original history, as well as of the fidelity of Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth, who first translated it into Latin. Geoffrey's veracity, also, 
 has been ably vindicated by the late Mr. Ellis, in his " Specimens, &e. 
 of English Metrical Romances ;" and the Rev. P. Roberts, A.M. has given 
 a new translation of the " British Chronicle" from the " Brut Tysilio" 
 collated with some ancient Welch MSS. Geoffrey was deficient in the 
 latinizing of Welsh names, although in the original copies they exist in a 
 regular and intelligible form. Hence Rhun Paladr-fras (Rhun of the 
 thick shaft) has been corrupted into Lud-Hudibras ; and Blaiddyd his 
 son, into Bladud. The passage relating to Bath, in Roberts's translation, 
 is as follows : — " He (Bladud) built Caervaddon, and formed there a 
 warm unguent to be a perpetual remedy for the diseased. Moreover, by 
 sacrificing to the enchantress called Minerva, he kindled an inextinguish- 
 able fire there : which, when it appeared to burn out, rekindled in balls 
 of fire." In a note to this passage, the author states, that in other copies 
 the word Deivines, or enchantress, is Duwies, a goddess. 
 
 f It is a curious fact that every thing relating to Minerva in the above 
 extract is derived from a passage in Solinus, a Roman author who lived 
 about the middle of the third century after Christ, and whose testimony 
 will be more particularly referred to in a succeeding page. 
 
S BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 pared, and fell down upon the temple of Apollo, in the 
 city of Trinovantum, where he was dashed to pieces." 
 
 In the rhyming history of " Unfortunate Princes," 
 written by Boccace, who lived about 1450, and trans- 
 lated by Dan Lidgate, Bladud is made to speak thus : — 
 
 " Some say, I made the holesom Baths at Bath, 
 And made, therefor, two burning tuns of brass ; 
 And other twain, seven kinds of salts that have 
 In them inclos'd ; but these be made of glass ; 
 With sulphur fill'd, wild-fire emixt there was : 
 And in four wells these tuns, so placed, heat, for aye, 
 The water springing up before it pass away. — 
 
 " I must confess, by learned skill I found 
 
 These native wells, whence springs that help for men : 
 But well thou know'st, there runs from under ground 
 Springs sweet, salt, cold, and hot, even now as then, 
 From rock, saltpetre, alum, gravel, fen ; 
 From sulphur, iron, lead, gold, silver, brass, and tin, 
 Each fountain takes the force of vein it coucheth in. 
 
 " The city eke of Bathe I founded there, 
 Renowned far by reason of the Wells : 
 And many monuments that ancient were, 
 
 I placed there, thou know'st the story tells ;" &c. 
 
 Camden briefly passes over the legend of Bladud ; 
 but his words are sufficiently pointed to evince how very 
 little credit he considered it to deserve. " The dis- 
 covery," he says, " of these baths, our fabulous history 
 refers to the British King Bleyden Cloyth, that is, Bleyden 
 the Magician, with what probability let others determine. 
 Pliny tells us, the ancient Britons practised magic with 
 so many ceremonies, that they may seem to have taught 
 
TOM CORIAT's VERSION OF BLADUD. 9 
 
 it to the Persians ; but I dare not refer these baths to 
 magic power*." 
 
 In Warner's " History of Bath," p. 11, it is stated 
 inadvertently, that " the story of Bladud and his swine 
 was firmly believed for some centuries, and is attested in the 
 ivorks of almost all our early historians^ ." Unfortunately 
 for our Bath Historian no mention of Bladud's pigs has 
 been made by any early writer of established autho- 
 
 * Gough's Edit, of the " Britannia," vol. i. 1789. 
 
 t The legend of Bladud was formerly inscribed in " a great Table," 
 which was long affixed against the wall in the King's Bath, but which 
 was removed in the time of Charles the Second, in consequence of the 
 keen satire of the Avitty but profligate Rochester, who is said to have 
 made the citizens ashamed of their credulous belief. Tom Coriat, the 
 celebrated peripatetic, that is, if Guidott, in this instance, has not as- 
 sumed his name, (see the " Appendix" to his Treatises concerning Bath,) 
 has very whimsically paraphrased Bladud's story in the following lines, 
 written in the " Zomerzetzhire' dialect. 
 
 Lud Hudibrass, a meazel voule, did zend his zun a graezing, 
 
 Who vortuend hither vor to cum, and geed his pigs zum peazun ; 
 
 Poor Bladud he was mangee grown, his dad, which zum call vather, 
 
 Zet Bladud pig, and pig Bladud, and zo they ved together. 
 
 Then Bladud did the pigs invect, who, grunting, ran away, 
 
 And vound whot waters presently, which made 'em vresh and gay. 
 
 Bladud was not so grote a vool, but zeeing what pig did doe, 
 
 He beath'd and wash'd, and rins'd and beath'd from noddle down to toe. 
 
 Bladud was now (gramercy pig !) a delicate vine boy ; 
 
 So whome he trudges to his dad, to be his only joy : 
 
 And then he built this gawdy Town, and sheer'd his beard spade-ways, 
 
 Which voke accounted then a grace, though not so now-a-days. 
 
 Thwo thowzand and vive hundred years, and thirty-vive to that, 
 
 Zince Bladud's zwine did looze their greaze, which we moderns cal vat. 
 
 About that time, it was alzo, that A/iob's zuns were hang'd ; 
 
 A Jezabel, their mam (curz'd deel !) caus'd Kaioth to be stone-bang'd. 
 
 Chee cud zay more, but chain aveard voke will account this vablc — 
 
 O, lnvidles ! if ye woon not me, yet chee pray believe the Table. 
 
10 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 rity, without adverting to the absurdity of the legend ; 
 and not three of our ancient chroniclers can be named 
 who have mentioned it at all. 
 
 Bath, according to Camden, was called by the Britons 
 Yr Ennaint Twymin, which H. Lloyd* has corrected into 
 Cacr yn nant Twymin, or the City in the warm Vale ; but 
 no antiquities whatever, that can with propriety be re- 
 ferred to that nation, have ever been found in this place. 
 On the contrary, all the ancient remains which, in dif- 
 ferent ages, have been discovered here, are of Roman 
 workmanship ; and its coins, altars, sculptures, baths, 
 sudatories, masonry, and inscriptions, all attest its long- 
 continued occupation by the Romans. Its appellations 
 of T^ara B-g^a, Aqua Calida, or warm waters, and Aquce 
 Solis, by which it is first mentioned in authentic history, 
 prove it, equally, to have been of Roman origin ; and, 
 from the known partiality of the Romans for warm bath- 
 ingf, and from the style and execution of the architec- 
 tural fragments which have been dug up in this city, 
 there can be little doubt but that it was one of their prin- 
 cipal settlements in the west. Ptolemy, who, in his Geo- 
 graphy, has recorded its latitude and longitude under the 
 first of the above names, has merely noticed it as one of 
 the principal towns of the Belgae ; both Antoninus and 
 Richard of Cirencester mention it in their respective Iti- 
 neraries, under the name of Aqua Solis. 
 
 At what particular time the Romans established their 
 residence here is uncertain ; but there is every proba- 
 bility that it was as early as the reign of Nero (circa 
 
 * Fragm. " Descr. Brit.," p. 16. 8vo. 
 
 t Boadicca, in her address to the goddess Andraste, when on the eve 
 of battle, reproaches the Romans for their effeminacy and luxurious 
 habits; and particularly for their custom of bathing in warm waters. — 
 Vide Dio. 1. xii. 'i. 
 
BATH UNDER THE ROMANS. 11 
 
 A.D. 50) ; as a great number of Roman copper and 
 brass coins were found of that emperor and his suc- 
 cessors, Trajan, Adrian, and the Antonines, on digging 
 the foundations for the New Hot Bath and other works, 
 about the year 1776. A coin of Vespasian has also been 
 found here ; as well as other coins of different emperors 
 down to Valentinian the Second, who reigned in A.D. 
 375*. 
 
 There is a passage in Solinusf, in which, though 
 speaking of Britain generally, he must be understood 
 as especially referring to this city, except in respect 
 to the rivers; his words are these: — " In quo spatio 
 magna et multa flumina sunt, fontesque calidi opiparo 
 exculpti apparatu ad usus mortalium ; quibus fontibus 
 praesul est Minervae numen, in cujus sede perpetui ignes 
 numquam canescunt in favillas, sed, ubi ignis tabuit, 
 vertitur in globos saxeos." — 
 
 In this very curious extract we see the origin of 
 that notice of the temple of Minerva and its perpetual 
 fires, which is found in the story of Bladud ; but, how- 
 ever remarkable in this respect, it is still far more so, 
 from the information it affords in regard to this city in 
 the Roman times. We learn from it that the Romans 
 had not only formed the hot springs into elegant baths 
 for general utility and accommodation, but likewise that 
 they had erected a temple near the spot, in honour of the 
 goddess Minerva, whom they considered as the pre- 
 siding deity over the springs, and on whose altar, as in 
 the temple of Vesta at Rome, a fire was perpetually 
 burning. With these particulars is connected the sin- 
 
 * See Guiclott's " Treatises relating to Bath," chap. ix. 
 f Vide " Poly-histor." cap. xxv. 
 
12 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 gular intimation, that the fires on Minerva's altar were 
 kept burning with fossil coal; for no other inference can 
 be deduced from these words of Solinus, " the perpetual 
 fires never wither into ashes, but when the fire is dead- 
 ened, it (the fuel) turns into stone balls." 
 
 The late Rev. John Whitaker, who in his review of 
 Warner's " History of Bath*," has taken uncommon 
 pains to investigate the Roman antiquities of this city, 
 and more particularly, as to every circumstance and 
 remain which may be supposed to relate to the temple 
 of Minerva, states that a species of coal of a slack or 
 powdery kind, is dug up at Newton, about three miles 
 from Bath, which has the- property of caking or soldering 
 into hard round masses, or nodules ; and he thence 
 infers, that the Newton coal was that which the Romans 
 employed to support their perennial fires in honour of 
 Minerva f. 
 
 An opinion has been very generally entertained, that 
 the present Abbey Church at Bath stands on the site 
 of the ancient temple here spoken of ; and this opinion 
 may be distinctly traced to Camden's time. Dr. 
 Stukeley, in the year 1724, says, " The Cathedral is 
 a beautiful pile : here they suppose (with probability) 
 stood the Roman temple of Minerva, patroness/ of the 
 baths J." Dr. Guidott, in 1676, speaking generally of 
 Bath, writes thus: — "There is a tradition that there 
 was formerly a temple dedicated to Minerva, where 
 
 * Vide " Anti-Jacobin Review," vol. x. anno 1801. 
 
 t Ibid. pp. 232, 233. This passage in Solinus, says Whitaker, 
 " gives us the very first intimation in all the Roman history, even the 
 only intimation in the whole history of Britain, concerning the Roman 
 ii e of fossil coals in Britain." 
 
 { " Ituiciarium Curiosum," vol. i. p. I 16. 
 
TEMPLE OF MINERVA. 13 
 
 now the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, commonly 
 called the Abbey Church, stands*." Camden says, 
 " Report tells us there anciently existed a temple sacred 
 to Minerva, where now the Cathedral Church is -f :" and 
 by reciting this without reproof, he silently admits its 
 probability. 
 
 Notwithstanding the respectable tenour of these au- 
 thorities, there is reason to believe, from the arguments 
 adduced by Whitaker, that the tradition was an erro- 
 neous one, however extensively the lapse of time had 
 contributed to its strength and prevalence. The temple, 
 this critic affirms, after an attentive examination of the 
 numerous antiquities which have been discovered on and 
 near the spot, " actually stood upon the western half 
 of the present Pump-room, ranging along the eastern 
 side of .Stall- street ;" and he proceeds to shew that it 
 was converted into a Christian church, and under the 
 appellation of St. Mary de Stalls — " the niches in that, 
 namely, the Temple, being denominated stalls in this " — 
 was in part remaining, though ruinous, at so late a period 
 as the termination of the sixteenth century. This latter 
 conclusion is substantiated by an old Leiger-book of Bath 
 Abbey, now in the possession of the Marquis of Bath, 
 wherein are the following entries : — 
 
 " Hie jacet Alexander de Alneto, et Erneburva uxor 
 ejus et Eulius de Alneto filius eoru, et Lucia de Marissis 
 filia eoru, et Jordanus de Marissis filius ejusdem Lucie, 
 et Willelmus de Marissis filius ejusdem Jordani." 
 
 " Est istud epitaphiu sculpt u a dextra in ostio ruinosi 
 templi quoad a AH nerve dedicati et ad hue in loco die to sese 
 studiosis offerens. 1582. 7° Decemb. In Civit. Bullion. \" 
 
 * " Briefe Discourse," p. 8, edit. 16.59. f " Britannia," p. 170. 
 \ Vide Warner's " History of Bath," Appendix, p. 48. 
 
14 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Since the date mentioned in the latter paragraph, 
 the Church of Stalls has been utterly desecrated ; and 
 with it, as a building, every vestige of the ruined temple 
 of Minerva. Among the antiquities, however, still pre- 
 served in Bath, are various remnants, sculptural and 
 otherwise, which were indubitably connected with the 
 fane of that goddess. The Gorgon shield that embel- 
 lished the portico of her temple is, for the most part, 
 remaining, together with different fragments of the. en- 
 tablature, and other parts*. There is, also, the head of 
 a female in bronze, which Whitaker, with much proba- 
 bility, conceives to be that of Minerva herself, and to 
 have belonged to her statue within the temple : an altar 
 to Sulinis Minerva, that is, the Solar Minerva, or Minerva 
 Medica ; and a sepulchral cippus in memory of Caius 
 Calpurnius, the " received priest" of the goddess. 
 
 To pursue the early history of Bath to a greater 
 extent, is foreign to the design of this work ; and 
 perhaps some apology may be requisite for having 
 entered so fully both into the legendary and the true 
 account of its origin, as has been done in these pages. 
 But as the subject is curious in itself, and as it has 
 never hitherto been placed in that distinct point of 
 view, of which it appeared to be susceptible, it is 
 hoped that this attempt to extinguish the ignis-fatuus 
 of tradition, and throw a clear light on the foundation 
 of so distinguished a city, will receive the approbation 
 of the candid reader. 
 
 * See Lysons' " Remains of two Temples, and other Roman Antiquities 
 discovered at Bath," plate iv. In plate v. of the same work, the portico 
 is represented as restored from the existing fragments. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BATH UNDER THE SAXONS FOUNDATION OF A NUNNERY, 
 
 AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE ABBEY CHURCH EXPUL- 
 SION OF THE SECULAR CLERGY ACCOUNT OF ABBOT 
 
 ELPHEGUS SUCCESSION OF THE ABBOTS CORONATION 
 
 OF KING EDGAR SAINTLY RELIQUES THE CITY AND 
 
 ITS APPURTENANCES GRANTED TO THE ABBEY CHURCH 
 
 ACCOUNT OF BISHOP JOHN DE VILLULA REMOVAL OF 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL RESIDENCE TO BATH BISHOP JOHN'S 
 
 MUNIFICENCE AND GIFTS DISPUTES CONCERNING THE 
 
 EPISCOPAL SEAT — THE TITLE OF BATH AND WELLS GIVEN 
 
 TO THIS BISHOPRIC ACCOUNT OF THE BISHOPS FITZ- 
 
 JOCELINE AND SAVARIC ALSO OF JOCELINE DE WELLES, 
 
 AND BISHOP ROGER SUCCESSIVE PRIORS OF BATH 
 
 DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERY LEARNED MONKS OF 
 
 BATH INTRODUCTION OF THE WEAVING BUSINESS 
 
 GRANTS OF THE MONASTIC PROPERTY BY HENRY VIII. 
 AND EDWARD VI. 
 
 The distractions of the Roman Empire occasioned the 
 Romans to withdraw their troops from this Island at the 
 commencement of the fifth century ; and as the flower of 
 the British youth had already been abstracted to recruit 
 the armies of Rome, the Scots and Picts embraced the 
 opportunity to extend their incursions into Britain, and 
 to plunder and destroy its defenceless natives with unre- 
 lenting ferocity. In a moment of despair the British 
 chieftains invited the Saxons to their aid ; but those 
 treacherous allies seized on the country they had under- 
 
16 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 taken to defend, and after many arduous conflicts, 
 effectually succeeded in establishing their dominion here. 
 Before, however, they obtained possession of Bath, the 
 Saxon hordes are stated to have been twice defeated, 
 with immense slaughter, on Mans Badonicus, perhaps 
 Bannerdown, in its immediate vicinity, by the British 
 King Arthur, in the years 493 and 520. They^ proved 
 victorious, however, in 577, when their chiefs Cuthwin, 
 and Ceawlin King of Wessex, defeated the British kings 
 Commail, Condida, and Farinmail, at Dyrham, about 
 eight miles distant, and took the three cities of Ba)>an 
 ceartrep, Cirencester, and Gloucester*. Under the sway 
 of the Saxons, Bath received the appropriate names of 
 Hat Bathun, or Bat ham, and Acemannes-cestre, or the 
 Sick Mans City; by these appellations, and their deriva- 
 tives, Balnea, Badonia, Badonessa, Bathonia, Acamanni, 
 Achamanni, and Achumanensi, it is subsequently desig- 
 nated in the Saxon and Monkish chronicles. 
 
 After the subjugation of this city by the Saxons, 
 Osric, King or Sub-regulus of the Huiccii, or Wicci, 
 with the consent of Kentwin, King of Wessex, founded 
 a Nunnery at Bath in the year 676f. To Bertana the 
 first abbess, he granted one hundred tenants adjacent 
 to the place, for the purpose of raising a monastery for 
 holy virginsj. 
 
 To Bernguida, the second abbess, forty ' manentes,' 
 or tenants, in Scepi, were granted by Vighardus, with the 
 consent of Wlpher king of Mercia||; and lands were 
 
 * " Saxon Chron." p. 26, Ingram's edit, anno 1823. 
 
 t Lei. " Collectanea," vol. i. p. 80. " Itinerary," vol. ii. fol. 38. 
 
 X Dugdale's " Monasticon," new edition, vol. ii. p. 264. 
 
 || Warner's " History of Bath," App. II. 
 
FOUNDATION OF NUNNERY. \7 
 
 given to the same abbess by " one Ethelmod, a great 
 man, by the leave of King iEdelrede*." 
 
 It is impossible to trace the vicissitudes which this 
 establishment experienced, or to identify the period when 
 it changed its original destination. According to Tanner, 
 the nunnery being destroyed by the Danes, King OfTa, 
 about the year 775, is said to have rebuilt the Church of 
 St. Peter, and to have placed secular canons thereinf. 
 Leland, from whom this account seems to have been 
 adopted, speaks, in his " Itinerary," with considerable 
 dubiety regarding Offa ; his words are — " The Prior of 
 Bath told me that after the Nunnes tyme ther wer 
 Secular Chanons in S. Peter's Chirch at Bath ; para- 
 venture OfTa, King of Merches, set them ther ; for I 
 have redde that OfTa did a notable Act at St. Peter's, in 
 Bath. Or els the Chanons cam yn after that the Danes 
 had racid the Nunry there J." That the Nunnery was 
 not destroyed by the latter, prior to 775, is evident from 
 the " Saxon Chronicle," which states, that the first ap- 
 pearance of the Danes on the English coast was in 787 ; 
 and their devastations were then confined to the northern 
 parts of Britain. 
 
 In his " Collectanea," Leland says expressly, that 
 the Church of Bath was founded by OfTa || ; yet there is 
 
 * See " Itinerary," ibid. f " Notitia Monastica." 
 
 t " Itin." vol. ii. fol. 38. In a preceding passage, Leland says, — > 
 *' The Book of thantiquite of the Abbay of Bath makith no great men- 
 tion of any great notable Doyng of Offa, king of the Merches, at Bathe." 
 It is probable that the Book thus referred to by Leland, is the Manu- 
 script, No. CXI. now preserved in Bibl. Corp. Christ. Coll. at Cam r 
 bridge; and from which Warner has printed several grants, &c, in his 
 Appendix to the " History of Bath." 
 
 || Ecclesia Bathoniensis ab Offa regc fundata est. — " Collectanea," 
 vol. ii. p. 26. Edit. 1774. 
 
 C 
 
18 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 no such foundation mentioned by Matthew Paris, in his 
 life of that sovereign, nor does Leland refer to any autho- 
 rity for his affirmation. We find, however, from Hem- 
 ming's " Chartulary," that Heathored, Bishop of Wor- 
 cester, assigned to King OfFa, (who had conquered 
 Wessex, and annexed it to his Mercian dominions,) the 
 monastery of Bath, with thirty cassates of land on the 
 south side of the river Eafen (Avon), in compensation 
 for certain lands belonging to King Ethelbald, which the 
 Bishop had detained*. The monastery thus assigned to 
 Offa, was, doubtless, that which Osric had founded ; but 
 whether the nuns had been previously ejected, or were 
 then displaced by the King, to make room for secular 
 canons, it is impossible to ascertain. 
 
 Camden, after speaking of the nunnery, says, " King 
 Offa built another church; both were destroyed in the 
 Danish wars." " From their ruins," he adds, " after- 
 wards arose a new Church, dedicated to St. Peter, in 
 which Edgar the Peaceable was crowned f." This pas- 
 sage has given rise to some strong assumptions, although 
 its strict verity is very questionable. Wood has fixed on 
 the year 878, when King Alfred retired to Athelney, for 
 the destruction of the church by the Danes J ; and War- 
 ner, more indefinite as to time, but more precise as to 
 circumstances, tells us, that " the splendour of Offa's 
 monastery terminated in the middle of the ninth century, 
 when it fell into the hands of the Danes ; and to the 
 
 * Hemming's " Chartulary," pp. 224, 225 ; and " Mon. Ang." vol. i. 
 p. 568 : new edit. 
 
 t " Britannia," vol. i. p. 62. Edit. 1789. " Malmesbury," says 
 Gough, " expressly intimates, that Edgar was crowned in the church 
 built by Offa." Gest. Pont. ii. 144. c. 
 
 I " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. 183. 
 
GRANTS OF KING ATHELSTAN. 19 
 
 horrible excesses of these savages the monastery was 
 exposed, its inmates probably slaughtered, and the build- 
 ing reduced to ruins *." Notwithstanding this particu- 
 larity, there is no valid historical document by which it 
 can be corroborated ; nor is it certain that the Danes 
 had ever obtained possession of Bath at the period 
 spoken of. Had the whole of Wessex been conquered 
 by them at the time of Alfred's mysterious retirement, 
 this city must of course have submitted to their power, 
 and been exposed to their ravages ; but we know that 
 Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Somersetshire, are celebrated 
 for their resistance to the Danes, and that the brave 
 inhabitants of those counties composed the army with 
 which Alfred completely defeated the invaders at Eding- 
 ton, in Wiltshire f . 
 
 King Athelstan, in 931, ' granted to Almighty God 
 and St. Peter, and the venerable family established in 
 the celebrated place, called by the country people, 
 JEt Bat hum, &c, ten manses in Pristan, and five in 
 iEstun, &c, on condition that they should daily offer for 
 him to God, most salutary masses and harmonious modu- 
 lations of psalms ; and incessantly fight for him with 
 spiritual arms against invisible enemies J.' Leland says 
 that, being in the library at Bath, he saw several books, 
 
 * " History of Bath," p. 100. 
 
 f The invasion of Wessex, the retirement of Alfred, and the final 
 defeat of the Danes, all happened in the year 878 ; and although, pre- 
 viously to their defeat, the Danes were in great force at Chippenham, 
 and ravaged the adjacent country, we have no proof of their having been 
 at Bath : that city was probably fortified against their attacks. In the 
 account of Wiltshire, " Beauties of England," vol. xv. is a review of 
 the opinions and statements of different authors, on the much-disputed 
 site of Alfred's decisive defeat of the Danes at " iEthandune." 
 
 t Warner's History, App. No. III. Ex Cod. MS. Bibl. C. C. C. 
 Cant. 61. 
 
20 BATH AliliEV CHURCH. 
 
 not unlearned, and very ancient, which were presented 
 by Athelstan, the Anglo-Saxon King, to the monks ; one 
 of which De Synodis Pontjjiciis, he removed to the library 
 of Henry VIII. * 
 
 In the year 956, King Edwy granted to the monastery 
 of St. Peter, " quod situm est in Bathonia ubi terme 
 amene calidis e fontibus dirivantur," thirty mansions 
 (mansas) at Dyddenham, in perpetual fee ; and in the 
 following year he gave ten mansions " at For da, 1 ' (Bath- 
 ford) to the same monastery, — " quod in Bathonia mira 
 fabrica constructum cognoscitur." In both grants Wulf- 
 gar is named as presiding over this establishment f ; the 
 possessions of which were further increased by different 
 Saxon kings, and particularly by Edgar, in the years 
 965 and 970. JEscwig is mentioned as abbot in both 
 Edgar's grants ; and St. Peter's church described as 
 being situated " in urbe Ackamanensi," and " at Hatum 
 Bath amy 
 
 About this period an important change was effected 
 in the state of this foundation, through the influence of 
 the Papal See, and the active bigotry of Archbishop 
 Dunstan, and the Bishops Oswald, of Worcester, and 
 Ethelwald, of Winchester. The church of Rome, find- 
 ing the Monks more completely devoted to its ambitious 
 purposes than the Secular Clergy, exerted the most 
 strenuous efforts to expel the latter from their establish- 
 ments, and supply their places by the former. These 
 measures were most zealously supported by King Edgar, 
 at the instigation of the bold and unprincipled Dunstan ; 
 
 * Fabricii Bibl. Med. ii. 39. The King is said to have been the author 
 of these books, upon the direct authority of William of Malmesbury. Ibid. 
 
 t Vide Warner's " Hist." App. Nos. IV. and V. Wulfgar was to 
 retain three cottages for his own exclusive use out of the estate at 
 Dyddenham. 
 
ACCOUNT OF ABBOT ELP1IEGE. 21 
 
 and among the other victims of this crafty policy, were 
 the canons of Bath, who were ejected, according to 
 Tanner and other writers, about the year 970, and a con- 
 vent of Benedictine monks was introduced in their stead . 
 Elphegus, or Elphege, a monk of Deerhurst, who was 
 eventually raised to the See of Canterbury, is reputed to 
 have been the first abbot of Bath after the expulsion of 
 the seculars*. He was born at Weston, probably near 
 Bath ; and, according to Gervase of Canterbury, was of 
 a good family. Osbern says-j", that dreading the re- 
 sistance of his mother to his becoming a monk, he 
 prayed to God to point out his destiny, which being 
 done by divine means, he relinquished his paternal in- 
 heritance, and was professed in the priory of Deerhurst ; 
 but not finding the regimen there strict enough, he be- 
 came [prior of Glastonbury], and thence abbot of Bath ; 
 where he built a house for himself to reside in as an 
 anchoret. The nobility flocked to him for spiritual 
 advice, and loaded him with presents. Many persons, 
 also, took a religious habit under him, whom, when he 
 had completed a very large dwelling, through various be- 
 nefactions, he placed under a rule of discipline ; and 
 having appointed a proper superintendent to supply them 
 with food, betook himself to a very small house, whither 
 
 * In the two grants made by Edgar, as mentioned above, in 965 and 
 970, ./Escwig is expressly called abbot; but that appellation does not 
 appear, from any former grants, to have been ever before borne by the 
 superior of this establishment. Now, as we know from the Saxon 
 Chronicle, that Edgar expelled the religious from several churches in 
 965, and replaced them with monks, may it not be assumed, with proba- 
 bility, that he ejected the seculars from Eath at the same period; and 
 that ./Escwig was in reality the first abbot on the new foundation ? 
 
 t " De Vita S. Elphegi," in " Anglia Sacra," pars ii. 
 
22 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 the monks resorted to him for instructions and orders in 
 all business of consequence. The Golden Legend states, 
 that " he bylded there that fayr abbacy at Bath, and 
 endowed it ; and was himself therein the fyrst abbot 
 and founder*." Elphege succeeded St. Birstan in the 
 bishopric of Wilton, and was translated to Winchester in 
 984. In 1004, according to Ralph de Diceto, or, as 
 Simeon of Durham says, in 1006, he was advanced to 
 the See of Canterbury. He was massacred by the 
 Danes, at Greenwich, when fifty-nine years old, on the 
 13th of the Kalends of May, 1012 1. 
 
 During the government of Elphege, king Edgar was 
 crowned, or, in Saxon phraseology, " hallowed to king%," 
 with much pomp, in Bath church, viz. on Whitsunday, 
 (May 11th,) anno 973. " Mickle bliss," says the Saxon 
 Chronicle, " was enjoyed at Bath, on that happy day;" 
 when " a crowd of priests, a throng of monks, in counsel 
 sage, were gathered there §." William of Malmesbury, 
 speaking of Edgar, says, — " From the 16th of his years, 
 when he was appointed King, till the 30th, he reigned 
 
 * Ed. Jul. Notary, fol. lxxv. f " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 105. 
 
 I " to cynge gehalgob." " Saxon Chron." by Ingram, p. 158. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 159 ; from a sort of ode on the solemnity. In commemo- 
 ration of that event, and of the favours bestowed by Edgar on the 
 town and monastery, a statue of that King was erected in front 
 of the Guildhall. Leland, in the second volume of his " Itinerary," 
 p. 39, says that, in his time, the inhabitants continued the custom of 
 electing yearly, on Whitsunday, a King among themselves, in joyful 
 remembrance of Edgar, and that the richest men of the town made 
 it a rule to feast their monarch with all his attendants. From this 
 practice, probably, originated the title of King of Bath, bestowed on 
 Beau Nash and some of his successors in the office of Master of the 
 Ceremonies. 
 
ABBOTS OF BATH. 23 
 
 without the insignia of royalty ; but at that time, the 
 princes and men of every order assembling generally, he 
 was crowned with great pomp at Bath." The same 
 author (in his Gest. Pont. lib. ii. Episc. Wellens.) states, 
 that Edgar, " delighted with the magnificence of the 
 place, as well as because he was crowned there, had en- 
 larged the abbey*." 
 
 Very little is known of this church from the promo- 
 tion of Abbot Elphege till after the Norman Invasion^. 
 Leland, but without specifying any distinct period, says, 
 " Alpharus, Erl of Merch, that was a scurge of Monkes, 
 expellid them for a tyme." In the Domesday Book, 
 Vlward is mentioned as being abbot in Edward the Con- 
 fessor's reign. His successor was Stigand > a friend and 
 favourite of William the Conqueror, whom he accom- 
 panied into Normandy, where Stigand soon after died. 
 Wlfwold and JElfsig next occur, as joint abbots, in a lease 
 of lands and cattle made by the whole convent of Bath 
 to William Hosett, on condition that he should serve in 
 war at the king's summons, and pay the king's tallagej. 
 During the supremacy of iElfsig, or Aldsius, as he is 
 sometimes called, and who died in 1087, several manu- 
 missions were made of Villani, or Villains, belonging to 
 the lands of this monastery^. In his time, also, the 
 
 * " Monasterium Batoniense rex Offa construxit, quod post rex 
 Edgarus, sicut alia monasteria, reparavit." MS. in Bibl. Cott. Vitell. 
 E. xii. 
 
 t We learn from the " Saxon Chronicle," that the Danish king Sweyne 
 took possession of Bath in 1013, and that Alderman Ethelmar, and all 
 the western thanes, submitted to him there, and gave him hostages. 
 
 X " Dug. Mon." vol. ii. p. 265: new edit. 
 
 § Ibid. See also Madoxii Form. Ang. p. 416. The original docu- 
 ments^ in the Saxon language, are in the Corpus Christi MS. before 
 
24 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Domesday survey was taken ; from which record it ap- 
 pears that this Church, independently of its other posses- 
 sions in Somersetshire and Gloucestershire, had belong- 
 ing to it, in Bath, twenty-four burgesses, who paid twenty 
 shillings, a mill which produced the like sum, and twelve 
 acres of meadow. The total amount of its revenues in 
 Edward the Confessor's reign, was 47/. 3*. 6d. ; in the 
 Conqueror's time, they had risen to 71/. 13*. 6^/. 
 
 It appears from the Corpus Christi manuscript, that 
 Bath Abbey, about this period, possessed a very abun- 
 dant collection of Relics — those estimable treasures, by 
 which Catholicism partly upholds her power, and engrafts 
 the very essence of absurd belief on the superstitious 
 minds of her weak votaries. The following articles, with 
 many others, are enumerated in the lists of this " pre- 
 cious" assemblage : — the bones of St. Peter, and part of 
 the garment of our Lord ; the heads of St. Bartholomew, 
 St. Lawrence, and St. Pancras ; the knee of St. Maurice, 
 the Martyr ; the ribs of St. Barnabas ; the arm of St. 
 Simeon ; fragments of St. Margaret, the Virgin ; part of 
 the Holy cross and napkin ; the vest of Christ ; the clean 
 cloth in which our Lord's body was wrapped ; the hair 
 and some of the milk of the Virgin Mary ; fragments of 
 her dress ; part of the pillar to which Christ was bound ; 
 part of the cross of St. Andrew ; part of our Lord's se- 
 pulchre ; remains of St. John Baptist, and some of his 
 blood ; of the sponge and sandals of Christ ; stone from 
 
 referred to. These documents throw much light on the servile state of the 
 lower classes at the time when the enfranchisements were granted. 
 A If sins, or Elsi, abbot of Bath, is noticed by Florence of Worcester as 
 being present at the synod of London, in 1075; he was also present at 
 the council of London, held in 1082. 
 
BISHOP JOHN DE VILLULA. 25 
 
 the fountain at Siloa ; part of the back of St. Samson ; 
 and some of the hair of Mary Magdalene ! 
 
 According to the " Saxon Chronicle," Bath and all 
 the adjacent country was plundered, in the year 1088, 
 by Gosfrith, Bishop of Coutances, and Robert the Peace- 
 breaker* ; who had joined the conspiracy of Bishop Odo 
 and others, against William Rums, in support of the 
 claims to the crown made by Robert, Duke of Normandy, 
 his elder brother. Warner states, that the monastery 
 here was " totally burned down," in the insurrection ; 
 yet there does not appear to be any valid authority to 
 warrant his statement. About that period, however, a 
 great change took place in respect to this establishment, 
 which appears to have been seized by the King, in order 
 to grant it, with all its appurtenances, to John de Villula, 
 Bishop of Wells, his chaplain, in augmentation of the See 
 of Somersetshire, and for the purpose of transferring the 
 episcopal seat to Battrf". 
 
 This Bishop, who was both a native and a priest of 
 Tours, in France, and thence also called Johannes Turo- 
 nensis, was a physician ; and is conjectured by Wharton 
 to have purchased the See of Wells with the profits of 
 his profession ; for simoniacal practices had been traced 
 to him in other respectsj. He succeeded Giso in the 
 
 * Probably Robert de Mowbray, the bishop's nephew. 
 
 t William of Malmesbury says, in his " Gest. Pont." lib. ii. Episc. 
 Wellens. — " Cum verb ijs successisset Joannes, natione Turonicus, pro- 
 fessione medicus, qui non minimum quoestum illo conflaverat artificio, 
 minoris gloriae putans si in villa resideret inglorius, transferre thronum in 
 Bathoniam animo intendit. Sed cum id inaniter vivente Willielmo patre 
 seniore cogitasset, tempore Willielmi filij effeeit." 
 
 X Wharton's note in " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 559. John de Villula 
 is reported to have practised physic at Bath ; and his effigy is said to 
 
26 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 above See, anno 1088, in which year the gift of Bath 
 Abbey is, in the register of Wells, said to have been 
 made to him*; but the charter of William Rufus, by 
 which the abbey was given to Bishop John, bears date 
 on the 6th of the Kalends of Feb. 1090-91-f\ About the 
 same time, by another charter, he granted " to God, and 
 St. Peter in Bath, and to John the Bishop and his suc- 
 cessors, the whole of the city of Bath, in free alms, with 
 all its appurtenances, to hold and possess in as free and 
 honourable a manner as he himself held any city in Eng- 
 land, together with its mint and all the accustomed rights, 
 both within and without the same, with the toll-money 
 arising as well in the fields as the woods, as well in the 
 market as the meadows and other lands, that with the 
 greater honour he may fix his pontifical seat there J." 
 
 The Canon of Wells, whose history of the Bishops of 
 this See has been published in the '■* Anglia Sacra," says 
 that John de Tours, or Villula, purchased the city of 
 Bath from William Rufus and his successors, for 500 
 marks of silver. He states, too, that that prelate, besides 
 removing the see from Wells to Bath, transferred also the 
 revenues belonging to the abbatial table of the monastery 
 to his own episcopal table, and caused himself to be 
 called Bishop of Bath§. Ralph de Diceto places the re- 
 moval of the episcopal seat in the year 1091 1| ; but Rud- 
 borne and Matthew Paris have both assigned it to the 
 year 1092: Rudborne says, by "bribery to the King;" 
 
 have been sculptured in alto-relievo on an ancient stone, now defaced and 
 broken, fixed up in the wall of an ordinary house opposite Walcot church. 
 Vide Warner's " Hist, of Bath," p. 63. 
 
 * " Anglia Sacra," ib. 560. t See Appendix to this Volume, No. I. 
 
 J Ibid. No. II. §" Anglia Sacra," ib. 560. 
 
 || Abbrev. " Chron." auctore R. de Diceto, col. 490. 
 
GRANTS OF HENRY I. 27 
 
 and Paris, more covertly, though with similar implication, 
 " through anointing the King's hand with white ointment*." 
 
 Henry the First, by three different charters, granted 
 in the early part of his reign, confirmed and extended 
 the privileges thus obtained by Bishop John ; and, in 
 addition to the grant of Rufus, gave to that prelate and 
 his successors, " the hidage or Danegeld, hitherto exacted 
 of the borough, after the rate of the twenty hides at 
 which it had been assessed from the reign of Edward the 
 Confessor, together with all pleas and other judicial rights 
 and privileges." He also exempted the monks and their 
 possessions from all civil jurisdiction, except in cases of 
 murder and robbery. 
 
 Leland says, — " This John pullid down the old 
 Chirch of St. Peter at Bath, and erectid a new [Church], 
 much fairer, and was buried in the middle of the Pres- 
 byteri thereof, whos Image I saw lying there an 9. Yere 
 sins, at the which tyme al the Chirch that he made lay 
 to wast, and was onrofid, and wedes grew about this 
 John of Tours sepulchre^." The Canon of Wells and 
 William of Malmesbury both state, that he built the church 
 from the foundations ; and the latter adds, " with a great 
 and elaborate circuit of walls J." He also gives the fol- 
 lowing character of the Bishop: "John easily obtained 
 the abbey from the King, and at first behaved harshly to 
 
 * " M.XCII. Ebdem anno, Johannes Wellensis prccsul, natione 
 Turonicus, consensu Willielmi Regis, albo unguento manibus ejus deli- 
 batis, transtulit in Bathoniam, sui cathedram pnesulatus." Hist. Angl. 
 p. 17. a Watts. 
 
 t " Itinerary," vol. ii. fol. 39. 
 
 X " Sepultus est in ecclesia S. Petri, quam a fundamentis erexerat 
 inagno et elaborato parietu ambitu." " Gest. Pont." lib. ii. Episc. 
 Wellens. 
 
 ! 
 
28 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 the monks, because they were stupid, and, in his opinion, 
 barbarians ; taking away the lands allowed for their sub- 
 sistence, and only dispensing to them scanty pittances 
 by his own lay servants. Being latterly much altered, 
 he treated the monks with more kindness, and allowed 
 the prior some lands for better support of the society, 
 and hospitality. He began and completed many things 
 nobly in ornaments and books, and rilled the abbey with 
 monks eminent for literature and discharge of their 
 duties. According to report, his medical knowledge 
 was founded more upon practice than science. He 
 enjoyed literary society, but indulged in sarcasm more 
 than was fitted to his rank. He was a wealthy man, 
 and of liberal habits ; but could not be induced, even 
 on his death-bed, wholly to restore their lands to the 
 monks*." 
 
 In the latter assertion, Malmesbury is completely in 
 error, as may be seen by the deed or charter which 
 this Bishop solemnly granted to the monks in the year 
 1106, in the presence of numerous witnesses. By that 
 instrument, he not only restored to the monks all the 
 lands which they had formerly possessed, but he also 
 gave them several estates, and other property of various 
 descriptions. The rents, or issues, from the city of 
 Bath, he appropriated to the perfecting of the new work 
 — unquestionably the Church — he had begun: — " ad 
 jiojiciendum novum opus quod incepi-\" 
 
 * " De Gest. Pont." lib. ii. Episc. Wellens. 
 
 t The whole Instrument is curious ; it may be thus translated : — 
 " In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I, John, by 
 the grace of God, Bishop of Bath, to all Bishops my successors, and to 
 all the sons of the Holy Church, greeting. — Be it known unto you all 
 that for the honour of God and St. Peter, I have laboured, and at length 
 
GIFTS OF JOHN DE VILLULA. 29 
 
 The munificence of John de Villula excited other 
 pious devotees to assist in endowing his new foundation. 
 " Walcuinus de Douay gave to God and the Church of 
 St. Peter, and Bishop John and the ministers of the 
 
 effected, with all decent authority, that the Head and Mother Church of 
 
 the Bishopric of Somerset shall be in the City of Bath, in the Church of 
 
 St. Peter ; to which holy apostle, and to the monks his servants, I 
 
 have restored their lands, which I formerly held unjustly in my own 
 
 hands, in as free and ample a manner as Aldsius the late abbot held them 
 
 before me ; and if I have improved them, and whatsoever of mine shall 
 
 be found thereon, I give to them to their own use and property. I also 
 
 give them for farther supply of their food and clothing, and to increase 
 
 the convent of the holy brethren serving God there, and to reimburse 
 
 the treasury what I took from the Church, those lands which I have 
 
 acquired by my own travail, or bought with my own money ; — to wit, 
 
 those five hides in Weston, which I purchased of Patricius de Caurcia ; 
 
 and the land of Hugh with the Beard, to wit, Claferton, Docne, Mers- 
 
 field and Eston, together with Herley and Arnemude on the sea-coast, 
 
 and whatsoever belongs to them ; and one house in Bath, and one other 
 
 in Winchester : — But as to the city of Bath, which first of all King 
 
 William, and after him, his brother King Henry, gave to St. Peter for 
 
 their alms, I have, pursuant to my vows, determined that all issues 
 
 and profits arising from it be laid out in perfecting the new work I have 
 
 begun. Besides, what I have acquired of church ornaments, in copes, 
 
 in palls, in curtains, in dorsals, in tapestry, in crucifixes, in robes, in 
 
 chalices, and in phylacteries ; and whatsoever of my own 1 have added 
 
 jn the episcopal chapel, my whole armoury, my clothes, my bowls, my 
 
 plate, and all my household furniture, I give to St. Peter and his monks 
 
 for ever, to their own use and property, for the remission of my sins. 
 
 Whosoever, therefore, shall infringe on this my gift, may the curse of 
 
 God, and of his holy apostles and saints, light on him, and by the 
 
 authority of me, though a sinner, let him be accursed, and for ever 
 
 cut off* from the community of the Church. Done A. D. 1106; in the 
 
 reign of Henry, son of William, Duke of Normandy, and King of 
 
 England, Anselm being archbishop; of my ordination the 19th, and 
 
 of the indiction, the 12th. And that this my Deed may remain more 
 
 firm and unshaken, I have with my own hand signed it with the sign of 
 
 the Holy Cross + ." 
 
30 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 same Church, the church of Bath-Hampton, with half 
 a hide of land, and all the tithes of that manor. By 
 the same charter, Ramarus his brother, and Gerard 
 his steward, conjointly gave to the same grantees, a 
 hide of land called Foxcumbe ; and Gerard separately 
 gave the church of Brocton, with one virgate of land ; 
 to which the wife of Walcuinus, in concert with her sons, 
 added half the tithe of Carey, the church of Brigg, or 
 Bridgwater ; and the wife of Gerard the chaplain, sixty 
 shillings and a missal*." 
 
 Bishop John erected an episcopal palace on the west 
 side of the monastery, of which, in Leland's time, a 
 great square tower and some ruins were remaining. 
 According to Wood, he likewise constructed two new 
 baths within the limits of the monastery, for the public 
 use, calling the one the Bishop's Bath, and the other 
 the Prior's Bath j" ; but from the circumstances at- 
 tending the discovery of the ancient baths, which will 
 be mentioned hereafter, it is probable that the baths 
 alluded to had been originally constructed by the 
 Romans, and that Villula merely altered them. In the 
 " Decern Scriptores," (coll. 247,) this Bishop is said to 
 have died on the day after Christmas-day 1123, having 
 been taken suddenly after dinner with a pain in the 
 heart. In the " Anglia Sacra" he is stated to have died 
 very old, December 29th, 1122+. 
 
 Godfrey, a Belgian by birth, who was chaplain and 
 chancellor to the Queen, Adeliza, was presented to the See 
 
 * Warner's " History of Bath," p. 115, and App. No. XIX. 
 
 t " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. 186. 
 
 \ Vide Wharton's Note in " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 560. Henry de 
 Huntingdon calls the Bishop simply " Johannes Medicus." — Ibid, purs 
 ii. p. 700. 
 
BISHOPS GODFREY AND ROBERT. 31 
 
 of Bath, about Easter, 1123 ; he was consecrated on the 
 26th of August following. In his time, Henry the First 
 granted to this church the valuable manor of Dogmers- 
 field, in Hampshire, which afterwards became a summer 
 residence of the Bishops. After a vain attempt to re- 
 cover the lands and supremacy of the Church of Wells, 
 King Henry, and Roger, Bishop of Sarum, supporting 
 John, Archdeacon of Wells, against him, this prelate 
 died on the 16th of August, 1135, and was buried in his 
 cathedral church*. 
 
 Robert, a native of Normandy, and a monk of Lewes, 
 whom Henry, Bishop of Winchester, had appointed to 
 the temporary government of St. Swithin's, in that city, 
 was, by the influence of the same prelate, promoted to 
 the vacant See on the death of Godfrey. During his 
 episcopacy, the whole city was destroyed by fire, on the 
 29th of July, 1137, together, according to Stow, with 
 St. Peter's church f. The Canon of Wells, without 
 adverting to the latter circumstance, merely says, that 
 Bishop Robert finished the Church of Bath which John 
 of Tours had begun J. He also endowed the monastery 
 with the manor of South-Stoke, a mill there, and 
 twenty measures of salt, yearly : these and other do- 
 nations, including the whole tithe of Bath and Lincumb, 
 the tithe of the Vines of Lincumb, the churches of Forde 
 and Estun, the village of Combe, and divers lands, 
 were confirmed to the monks by Archbishop Theobald, 
 in 1150. 
 
 After the removal of the seat of this diocese from 
 Wells to Bath, great dissensions arose between the 
 canons of the former city and the monks of the latter, 
 
 * " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 560. + " Chronicle of England," p. 144. 
 t " Anglia Sacra," ib. p. 561. 
 
32 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 respecting the episcopal residence ; the canons affirming 
 that the translation of the See by John de Villula, 
 " could not be held good, because it was made against 
 their consent, with disregard of right, and without any 
 necessity or legitimate cause *." The dispute was 
 eventually referred to Bishop Robert, who decreed that 
 the Bishops should neither derive their title from Wells, 
 as in old, nor from Bath, as in modern times, but that 
 they should in future take their names from both 
 Churches, and be called Bishops of Bath and Wells : 
 that the monks of Bath, and the canons of Wells, should, 
 on a vacancy of the See, appoint an equal number of 
 delegates, by whose votes the Bishop should be chosen, 
 (the Dean of Wells being the returning officer,) and that 
 he should be enthroned in both Churchesf. This prelate 
 died either in the year 1165, or 1166, and was buried 
 with his predecessors, at Bath. 
 
 After his decease, Henry the Second retained pos- 
 session of the See till the year 1174, when he gave it to 
 Reginald Fitz-Joceline, whose father was an Englishman 
 by birth, and Bishop of Sarum, but from surname and 
 education he was regarded as a Lombard.):. This Pre- 
 late, described to be a man of ability and many excellent 
 qualities, was much addicted to hunting and hawking ; 
 and he obtained from Richard Coeur de Lion the con- 
 firmation of an alleged right to keep dogs for sporting 
 throughout all Somersetshire. From some services ren- 
 dered to the monks of Canterbury, they were induced 
 
 * " Anglia Sacra," pars i. pp. 555, 556. 
 
 f Vide Collinson's " Hist, of Som." vol. iii. p. 379 ; and " Anglia 
 Sacra," ib. p. 561. The composition, or decree, is extant in Register 
 Drokensford ; it was made before the year 1139. " Anglia Sacra," ibid. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 562. Bishop Joceline is said to have had this son before 
 he was ordained. 
 
I ITZ-JOCELINE AND SAVAK1C. -VJ 
 
 to elect him their archbishop, on Nov. 27th, 1191 ; but 
 whilst preparing for his new See, he was taken ill at his 
 manor of Dogmersfield, in Hampshire, and putting on a 
 monk's cowl, he died there on the 26th of December 
 following*. He was interred near the high altar at 
 Bath, on St. Thomas's dayf. 
 
 Savaric, the son of Goldwine, Archdeacon of North- 
 ampton, and Treasurer of Sarum, being elected to suc- 
 ceed Reginald by the monks of Bath, though without 
 the knowledge or consent of the canons of Wells, was 
 ordained priest on the 19th of September, 1192 ; and, as 
 Wharton thinks, consecrated Bishop on the following day J. 
 Savaric was related to Henry VI. Emperor of Germany, 
 who, to oblige his kinsman, made it one of the conditions 
 of the release of King Richard, whom he then held in 
 captivity, (the King having been basely imprisoned on 
 his way from the Holy Land,) that Savaric should be ap- 
 pointed Bishop of Bath and Wells ; and that the wealthy 
 abbey of Glastonbury should be annexed to his diocese, 
 for its aggrandisement and advantage^. Henry de Solis, 
 the abbot of Glastonbury, who was of the blood royal, 
 was induced to consent to this arrangement, on being- 
 promoted to the bishopric of Worcester ; but the monks 
 strenuously opposed it, though in vain. Stow affirms, on 
 the authority of a record of Henry the Third's time, that 
 Savaric procured the imprisonment of Richard, in order 
 to annex Glastonbury to his see || ; and the King is re- 
 
 * " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 562. 
 
 f " Decern. Scrip." col. 667. Hoveden says, he was buried at Bee ; 
 for so Bath is denominated, (vide Hoved. " Script." post Bedam. p. 
 405. B.) possibly from some presumed analogy to the Roman Baice. 
 
 X " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 563. 
 
 § Vide Dugdale's " Monas." new edit. vol. i. p. 5. from Johan. Glast. 
 
 || " Chronicles of England." 
 
 13 
 
34 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 ported to have declared that the annexation of the abbey 
 was obtained from him by force and terror*. But, what- 
 ever the truth may be, in these respects, it appears that 
 Richard profited by the opportunity sufficiently to induce 
 the Bishop to surrender to him the city of Bath, which 
 was then valued at 100/. per annum. Savaric assumed 
 the title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury ; and he 
 granted the archdeaconry of Bath to the prior and con- 
 vent there. He died at Scienes, on the 8th of August, 
 1205 ; and was buried in this church. The following 
 monkish rhymes, expressive of the rambling inquietude 
 of his disposition, are said to have formed his epitaph : — 
 
 Hospes erat mundo, — per mundum semper eundo, 
 Sic suprema dies — fit sibi prima quies. 
 
 Joceline de Wells, called Joceline de Troteman in the 
 " Annales Marganenses," who had been made a Justice 
 of the Common Pleas in September 1204, was conse- 
 crated Bishop of Bath, in St. Mary's chapel at Reading, 
 on the 28th of May, 1206f. He was elected by the joint 
 chapters of Bath and Wells ; with this new arrangement, 
 that the prior of Bath should proclaim the bishop elect, 
 who should always be first enthroned in the church at 
 BathJ. During his episcopacy, the monks of Glaston- 
 bury, after great exertions, and an appeal to the court of 
 Rome, obtained a dissolution of their enforced union 
 with this see : yet not till they had agreed to surrender 
 to the bishop the valuable manors of Winescombe, Puckle- 
 church, Blackford, and Cranmore, together with the ad- 
 
 * See Adami. de Dom. Mon. Glast. Hist. Cent, inter Epis. Bathon. et 
 Mon. Glast. " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 578. 
 
 t " Anglia Sacra," ibid. p. . r ;(i4. \ Ibid. 
 
JOCELINE DE WELLES, AND BISHOP ROGER. 35 
 
 vowsons of several churches. This arrangement was duly 
 confirmed by a bull of Pope Honorius the Third, dated 
 at Rome, on the 16th of the kalends of June, 1218* ; and 
 Joceline then resumed the title of Bishop of Bath and 
 Wells, which has ever since been used by the successive 
 prelates of this see. 
 
 Bishop Joceline having incurred the high displeasure 
 of King John, by interdicting the nation pursuant to the 
 Pope's command, in the year 1208, was obliged, soon 
 after, to quit the kingdom. During his absence, the King- 
 retained the temporalities of the bishopric ; and in the 
 14th of his reign, anno 1212, Thomas Peverel, his 
 escheator, accounted to him for the profits of it : the nett 
 amount in that year was 213/. 14*. 6d.-\ After an exile 
 of five years, this prelate returned to England, and re- 
 built the west front of the cathedral of Wells. He died 
 on the 19th of November, 1242, and was buried in the 
 middle of the choir, in that edificej. 
 
 In the following year, the monks of Bath elected for 
 their Bishop, Roger, precentor of Sarum ; but this being- 
 done without consulting the canons of Wells, an appeal 
 was made to the Pope, who decided that the right of elec- 
 tion was jointly in the two chapters. Roger, however, 
 having conciliated the canons, the monks, (who promised 
 
 * See Dug-dale's " Monasticon," vol. ii. p. 269. num. xix. Bishop Joceline 
 dictated the oath taken by Henry the Third, at his coronation at Glou- 
 cester ; and, with Peter, Bishop of Winchester, crowned him. Matt. 
 Paris " Hist. Angl." p. 243. 
 
 f Vide " Comp. Epis. Baton, de anno integro." Mag. Rot. 14. Joh. 
 rot. i. 6. By that instrument, it appears that the Bishop's establishment 
 comprised a train of huntsmen, a noble pack of harriers, and thirteen other 
 dogs of different descriptions, besides other articles of luxury. 
 
 \ See " History," &c. of " Wells Cathedral." 
 
36 13 A TH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 a stricter observance of the compact in future,) had then- 
 choice confirmed, and the Bishop elect was consecrated 
 at Reading, on the 11th of September, 1244. This pre- 
 late died on the 21st of December, 1247, or, as other 
 accounts, in January 1248*. He was the last of the 
 Bishops interred at Bath ; which, about this period, ap- 
 pears to have become subordinate to Wells in episcopal au- 
 thority and power. It will not therefore be requisite to 
 introduce, in this place, any account of the subsequent 
 bishops of this See, as in the " History and Antiquities 
 of Wells Cathedral," biographical anecdotes of the most 
 eminent of its Prelates have been recorded. 
 
 PRIORS OF BATH. 
 
 It has been said, that from the period this abbey was 
 annexed to the see of Bath, by John de Villula, till the 
 year 1159, "the establishment was governed by a sub- 
 prior, acting under the directions of the bishop ;" yet we 
 find the names of John and Benedict, who were Priors of 
 Bath before that year : the former presided during the 
 time of De Villula, and the latter in 1151|\ In 1159, 
 Peter was constituted prior, and his name again occurs 
 in 1175. His successor appears to have been Walter, 
 sub-prior of Hyde and Winchester, " a man of much 
 science and piety." He presided, except during a short 
 retirement, at Wherwell in Hampshire, till his decease, 
 on the 31st of May, 1198 ; and was interred at Bath;);. 
 
 *" " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 565. In " Annal. Wigorn." ibid. p. 492, 
 it is said that the Pope made Roger de Sarum Bishop of Bath, on account 
 of the dissensions between the chapters of Bath and Wells. 
 
 t Dug. "Monasticon," vol. ii. pp. 257, 258: new edit. 
 
 I " Anglia Sacra," pars i. " Annal. Winton." ibid. p. 304. 
 
PRIORS OF BATH. 37 
 
 About the year 1190, Hugh occurs as prior* ; he probably 
 held that office during Walters retirement. 
 
 Robert was prior in September 1198. In his time, 
 King John, who had previously to his accession founded 
 two Benedictine priories at Waterford and Cork, in 
 Ireland, and annexed them to this monastery, granted to 
 the "Church of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul at 
 Bath, and to the prior and monks serving God thercf," 
 his Berton, or Barton, a farm near the city walls, together 
 with an exempt and separate jurisdiction, in considera- 
 tion of two payments into the Exchequer of 10/. each. 
 This was in his 5th year, anno 1204 : three years after- 
 wards, he bestowed many important privileges on the 
 monks of Bath, conjointly with the canons of Wells ; 
 such as having toll, theam, and infangenthef on all their 
 property, together with two ordeals of water and 
 fire, and the privilege of execution ; with exemptions 
 from all suits and attendances in courts, whether general 
 or local, and from all juries, assizes, &c.J In October 
 1223, Prior Robert, by the influence of Bishop Joceline, 
 was made abbot of Glastonbury ; but the violent con- 
 tentions which arose between him and the monks there, 
 — (he having been chaplain to Savaric, whom the latter 
 considered to have subverted their privileges,) — occa- 
 sioned him at length to return to Bath, (where he died 
 in tranquillity in Passion week, 1234,) on a pension of 
 60/. per annum§. 
 
 * Dug-dale's " Monasticon," vol. ii. p. 258. 
 
 f Warner's " History of Bath," p. 117, and Appendix, Nos. XXVIII. 
 and XXXIX. The grant made by King John in 1204, is the firstin which 
 this church is styled St. Peter's and St. Paul's ; and it is remarkable, 
 that in his second grant, anno 1207, it is called St. Peter's only. In all 
 succeeding grants,it has the duplex appellation of St. Peter'sand St. Paul's. 
 I Ibid. % Adami. de Dom. in " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 583 
 
38 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 In 1228, Thomas was prior, and his name occurs in 
 various years, till his decease on the Eve of St. John 
 Baptist, 1261*. In his time, and in that of his prede- 
 cessor, this city, with the adjoining barton, was held on 
 lease by the prior of Bath, at the pleasure of the King, 
 and on payment of the annual rent of 30/. into the Ex- 
 chequer!. Walter de Aona, receiver of the monastery, 
 was elected prior in July 1261, and his name again 
 occurs in 1275. During his supremacy, Edward the 
 First, anno primo, assigned Bath, with its barton and ap- 
 purtenances, to his consort Eleanor, in dower, for the 
 term of her natural life ; and a writ to that effect issued 
 to the prior and convent, the then lessees of the premises. 
 But this assignment must have been speedily retracted, 
 as the same monarch, in his third year, granted to Rich- 
 ard Burnell, bishop of Bath and Wells, and to his suc- 
 cessors, and the churches of Bath and Wells, the whole 
 of this city and its suburbs, &c. " except the Berton of 
 Bath, which the prior and convent of Bath hold of 
 us in fee-farm J." 
 
 Thomas de Wynton, who was made prior in 1291, re- 
 signed on the 4th of the ides of April, 1301. Robert de 
 Cloppecote was prior in 1303 : and in the following year, 
 
 * Dugdale's " Monasticon," vol. ii. p. 258. 
 
 f " Prior Bathoniae reddit competum de xxxl. de firma civitatis Ba- 
 thoniae tenende per talem firmam quamdiu regi placuerit." Mag. Rot. 
 Hen. III. 9 ann. In the twentieth of John [Henry] the lessee was obliged 
 to pay into the Exchequer the sum of \3l. lis. over and above his rent, 
 for the charge of the repairs that were then wanting in the King's houses 
 and baths, which the prior had suffered to dilapidate. Rot. Pip. 20th 
 Hen. III. Warner's " History of Bath," p. 168, note. 
 
 I This grant of Bath was in exchange for the patronage of Glaston- 
 bury abbey, and the service of the lands belonging to it, with fines, 
 emoluments, &c. Vide Warner's " History of Bath," p. 170; and 
 Appendix, Nos. XLVI. and XLV1I. 
 
PRIORS OF BATH. 39 
 
 King Edward granted to him and his convent the liberty 
 of holding two fairs annually, the one on their manor at 
 Lyncomb, the other on their manor at Barton. Clop- 
 pecote oppressed the monks so grievously, that the 
 bishop, John de Drokensford, by an objurgatory letter, 
 dated in August 1321, commanded him to render them 
 justice, and to rectify the abuses of which they com- 
 plained. By his negligence, also, the Abbey Church is 
 stated to have been suffered to fall to such decay, that 
 the Bishop judged it requisite to issue a circular letter 
 throughout his diocese, in the autumn of 1324, for a 
 general collection towards its repair; and the work 
 was completed in the ensuing year. In 1329, Prior 
 Cloppecote was mulcted by the crown, for appropriating 
 the church of Corston to his monastery, contrary to the 
 statute of Mortmain : he died on Ash- Wednesday, 1331. 
 In the following March, Robert de Sutton was chosen 
 prior, but the Pope not approving the choice, nominated 
 Thomas Christi, or Christy, and Sutton resigned, on 
 September 24, 1332 ; the priory of Dunster, and several 
 pensions to the amount of 36/. having been assigned to 
 him by the convent*. Christy was confirmed on the 8th 
 of the kalends of October, but did not long survive. His 
 successor Robert, the fourth of that name, was prior in 
 June 1333. John de Iford, or Yford, who next occurs 
 as prior, was cited to appear before the bishop of his 
 diocese in August 134G, for committing adultery with 
 Agnes Cubbel, at Hammeswell ; and on this charge he 
 either resigned or was deprived in the following yearf. 
 In 1363, John occurs as prior, probably the same as John 
 de Berewike, whose name occurs in 1370 ; and as John de 
 Berkelye, mentioned by Warner. 
 
 * Bibl. Harl. MS. 6955, p. 66. t Dugd. " Monasticon," vol. ii. p. 260. 
 
40 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 John de Forde was prior in 1371 ; and afterwards John 
 de Walcote. John Dunster, prior in 1406, died February 
 6th, 1412; and John de Telesford was elected on the 10th 
 of March following : he was summoned to a convocation in 
 St. Paul's, anno 1415, and died in 1425. During his time, 
 there was a great dispute between the convent and the 
 mayor and citizens of Bath, concerning the ringing of 
 the bells in the parish churches ; but at length, after the 
 dissensions had continued several years, it was decreed, 
 at an inquisition held at Frome, in the 9th of Henry V. 
 " that no one should ring any bells within the precincts 
 of Bath in the day-time, before the prior had rung his 
 bells ; nor in the night-time, after the prior had rung his 
 curfew*." On the 20th of April, 1426, William South- 
 broke became prior : he appears to have been cited to 
 a council at Ferrara in 1438, and he died on the 7th 
 of June, 1447. On the 16th of September, in the same 
 year, Thomas Lay cock was named prior by Bishop 
 Stafford, with consent of the monks, and he was in 
 office anno 1451. In 1476, Richard was prior ; and he is 
 said, in the Register of Beckington, to have been present 
 at the baptism of Richard, son to George, Duke of Cla- 
 rence, at Tewkesbury, on October the 7th, in that year. 
 
 In 1489, John Cantlowe was made prior : in his time, 
 anno 1494, Archbishop Morton visited the monastery : 
 he died in August, 1499. On the 31st of the same 
 month, William Birde was elected ; and although his ad- 
 mission was at first opposed by the Bishop, Oliver King, 
 he was eventually instituted by that prelate, and he 
 became his most effective coadjutor in the rebuilding 
 of this church : he died May the 22d, 1525. His suc- 
 cessor, William Flolway, or Holleiveye, alias Gybbs, was 
 
 * Collinson's " History of Somersetshire," vol. i. p. 56. 
 
PRIORS OF BATH. 41 
 
 elected on the 5th of July following; and after his 
 appointment, he ardently applied himself to the com- 
 pletion of the Abbey Church. This was scarcely 
 effected, however, before he found it requisite to sur- 
 render his monastery to King Henry the Eighth, which 
 was done on the 27th of June, 1539 ; five years pre- 
 vious to which the annual value of its possessions was 
 returned by the Kings commissioners (who on that 
 occasion were, Sir Henry Cassell, knt., Henry Covell, 
 late mayor of Bath, and John Browne,) at the sum 
 of 617/. 2s * Speed gives the value, at the period 
 of the dissolution, as amounting to 695/. 6s. An annual 
 pension of 80/. " with certain perquisites arising from 
 the baths, and a tenement in StalFs-street of the rent of 
 20*." was granted to Prior Holway ; nine pounds yearly 
 was granted to John Pyth, the sub-prior ; and smaller 
 sums were given to the other monks, who were nineteen 
 in number. Browne Willis states, that the King would 
 have advanced Holway to good preferment, but that he 
 refused the same, and concluded his days in privacy and 
 retirement^. 
 
 Among the very few members of this establishment 
 who have been recorded as eminent for learning, is 
 the monk Adelard, or Athelard ; who lived at the end 
 of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. 
 Leland says, that he went to France to study, and was 
 a close follower of Aristotle. He adds, that from the 
 preface to his " Natural Questions," it appears that 
 he lived in the time of Henry I.J Bale says, that 
 
 * Warner's " History of Bath," pp. 126—129, and Appendix, No. 
 LXXIV. from the original in the First Fruits' Office, 
 t " History of Mitred Abbeys," vol. i. p. 221. 
 t " De Script. Brit." p. 201. 
 
42 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Adelard had travelled over Egypt and Africa*. He 
 wrote a Dialogue of the Causes of Natural Objects, 
 between himself and his nephew, the preface of which 
 is published in Martenne's " Thesaurus Anecdotorumt." 
 Pits mentions other works, viz. : 1 . A Book of the Seven 
 Arts ; 2. Another, De sic et non sic ; 3. A Work on 
 the Astrolabe ; 4. A Book of Seventy-six Problems, 
 or Natural Questions, much commended by Leland ; 
 5. Another, on the Doctrine of the Abacus ; 6. A 
 Translation of Euclid's Geometry from Arabic into 
 Latin; 7. A Work on the Seven Planets; — perhaps 
 Japhar, the Mathematician's, whose Introduction to 
 Astronomy was translated from the Arabic by this 
 AdelardJ. 
 
 Under the auspices of the monks of Bath, the art of 
 weaving Woollen cloth was established in this city soon 
 after its introduction into England, about the year 
 1 333 ; and it was carried to such perfection during the 
 course of the 14th century, that Bath became one of the 
 most considerable places in the west for that manufac- 
 ture. Wood states, that the shuttle, the chief imple- 
 ment in the art, " was introduced, with the arms of the 
 abbey, as an ornament in front of the abbey-house, 
 
 * " Must. Mag." vol. ii. p. 69. t Vide, vol. i. p. 292. 
 
 t See Oudin. torn. ii. In Leland's " Collectanea," the titles of a few 
 MS. volumes are mentioned, which were in the monastic library at the 
 time of the Reformation : viz. " Isagoge Joannicii ; Libellus Galeni ad 
 Maecenatem ; Hiponosticon Laurentii Dunelmensis Carmine de Veteri et 
 Novo Testamento ; Galenus de Morbo et Accidcnti ; Liber de Febribus, 
 quern transtulit Constantinus monachus Cassinensis ex lingua Arabica ; 
 Commentarii Csesaris." — " Collectanea." vol. iv. p. 156. There is pro- 
 bably a mistake in the title of the second work, which connects Galen 
 with Maecenas, as the most celebrated individuals known under those 
 appellations lived at different periods. 
 
PRIORS OF BATH. 43 
 
 and was remaining- there in his time ; a trophy of the 
 industry of the monks of Bath*'." But if the inmates 
 of this establishment excelled some of their brethren in 
 industry, they were not inferior to any of them in their 
 endeavours to stifle the voice of reason, and keep the 
 inquiring mind involved in superstition and credulity. 
 A particular instance of this kind occurred in the year 
 1459, when Agnes, the wife of Thomas Cole, of Bath, 
 was prosecuted in the ecclesiastical court at Wells, for 
 having said " that it was but waste to give to the Holy 
 Trinity at Bath ; and equally absurd to go on pilgrimages 
 to St. Osmund at Salisbury ; and that she wished the 
 road thither was choaked up with bremmel [brambles 
 and thorns], to lette [hinder] people from going thither." 
 She was sentenced to recant the heretical and disre- 
 spectful words she had thus uttered, before all the con- 
 gregation in the great church of Bathf. 
 
 In the year 1542-3, (34th of Henry VIII.) the King, 
 by his letters patent dated March the 16th, in con- 
 sideration of the sum of 962/. 17*. Ad., already paid into 
 the court of Augmentation, granted the hospital of St. 
 John, at Bridgewater, the priory of Dunster, with its 
 appurtenances, " as part of the possessions of the late 
 priory of Bath," the monastery or priory of Bath itself, 
 with all " the houses, buildings, gardens, orchards, 
 barns, dove-houses, stables, pools, warrens, fish-ponds," 
 &c. within the site and precincts of the same ; together 
 
 * " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. 191. Warner says, that " the shuttle 
 was incorporated into the arms of the monastery," (History of Bath, p. 122); 
 but he has evidently mistaken the passage in Wood to which he refers. 
 There is no appearance of the shuttle in either of the coats engraved as 
 the arms of this monastery in Tanner's " Notitia Monastica." 
 
 t Warner's " History of Bath," p. 122. from excerpt. " Reg. Wellens." 
 in Bibl. Harl. No. 6964, sub anno 1459. 
 
44 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 with various messuages, lands, tenements, (including the 
 Prior's park,) in Lyncombe, Wydcombe, Hollway, and 
 Walcot ; and the capital messuage or mansion of Combe, 
 with its appurtenances, as possessed by the monastery of 
 Bath, to Humfrey Colles, Gent., his heirs and assigns, 
 for ever ; " together with all such court-leets, view of 
 frank-pledge, assize of bread, wine, and beer, knights' 
 fees, wards, and marriages, escheats, heriots, fairs, 
 markets, tolls, customs, commons, free-warrens, goods 
 and chattels, waifs and strays, profits, commodities, 
 emoluments, and hereditaments whatsoever, as the abbots 
 and priors of the said monastery heretofore held and 
 enjoyed." The mansion of Combe was to be held in 
 capite, by the fortieth part of one knight's fee, rendered 
 yearly ; and the late site and possessions of the priory of 
 Bath, by an annual rent of eight shillings and four 
 pence*. In the following year, an act of Parliament 
 was passed, by which the Dean and Chapter of Wells 
 were empowered to make one sole chapter for the Bishop 
 of Bath and Wells. About nine years afterwards, namely, 
 on the 12th of July, 1552, Edward the Sixth granted to 
 the corporation of Bath, such lands and tenements within 
 the city and its suburbs, as formerly belonged to the 
 priory, and were then in the possession of the crown, for 
 the maintenance of ten poor aged people, and for the 
 instruction of the youth of the city, by a proper master, 
 in the Latin tonguef. 
 
 * Warner's " History of Bath," p. 134 ; and Appendix, No. LXXIX. 
 
 t Wood's " Description of Bath," vol. i. pp. 197, 199. The Hos- 
 pital of St. Catherine, at Bath, called the Bimberries, from being situated 
 in Bimberry-lane, had its origin from this grant of Edward VI. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE ERECTION OF THE PRESENT CHURCH 
 
 ACCOUNT OF BISHOP OLIVER KING HIS VISION, AND 
 
 CONSEQUENT FOUNDATION OF THIS FABRIC — HIS IN- 
 JUNCTIONS TO PRIOR BIRDE PROGRESS OF THE BUILD. 
 
 ING POETICAL ACCOUNTOF PRIOR HOLLEWAYE STATE 
 
 OF THE CHURCH IN QUEEN ELIZABETH'S REIGN RE- 
 PARATIONS OF THE SAME BY CHAPMAN, BELLOT, AND 
 OTHERS SOLICITUDE OF SIR JOHN HARINGTON TO COM- 
 PLETE THE CHURCH BISHOP MONTAGUE INDUCED TO 
 
 CONTINUE THE WORK IMPROVEMENTS NEAR THE CHURCH 
 
 ROMAN BATHS UNDER THE ABBEY CHURCH DISCOVERY 
 
 OF MONASTIC VESTMENTS. 
 
 The Church which Bishop Robert had completed, expe- 
 rienced so much neglect from the monks, that it had 
 become very ruinous before the close of the fifteenth 
 century. It appears, indeed, (as well as the affairs of 
 the monastery in general,) to have been most shamefully 
 neglected long prior to that time — a letter being still 
 extant, which was written to Prior Robert, on " the 
 miserable state of his convent," by Bishop John de 
 Drokensford, in August 1321*; 'and, three years after- 
 wards, that prelate caused a collection to be made 
 throughout his diocese, for the repairs of the Church. 
 During that, and the succeeding century, it was again 
 so utterly neglected, that, to employ the strong ex- 
 pressions of Bishop King, it became ruined to the 
 foundations — imb funditus dirutam\> — in consequence of 
 
 * Vide Appendix', No. III. t Ibid. No. IV. 
 
46 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 the monks expending their large income in pleasurable 
 indulgences, instead of appropriating some part thereof 
 to the necessary reparations of the fabric. It was in this 
 forlorn state, when Dr. Oliver King, who was emi- 
 nent both as a divine and a politician, was translated 
 from Exeter into the episcopal chair of Bath and Wells ; 
 in which he was enthroned, on the 12th of March, 1496. 
 This prelate was one of the Fellows of King's College, 
 Cambridge, and he afterwards became Archdeacon of 
 Taunton, Registrar of the Order of the Garter, Canon 
 of Windsor, and principal Secretary of State to Edward 
 the Fourth, Edward the Fifth, Henry the Sixth, and 
 Henry the Seventh ; by the latter of whom he was em- 
 ployed in France to conclude a treaty of peace with 
 Charles the Eighth, which mission he executed with 
 great success : he was promoted to the see of Exeter in 
 1492, and thence to Bath and Wells on November the 
 6th, 1495. He died on the 29th of August, 1503*. 
 
 * There is some degree of uncertainty as to the real burial place of 
 Bishop King ; who, according to the Red Book, or Register of Wells, 
 died on the 29th of August, 1503, as mentioned in the text; and not on 
 the 24th of January, as stated by Godwin, and others. By his Will, 
 which was proved on the 24th of October in the above year, he directed 
 his body to be interred in the choir of the new church of Bath, near the 
 first arch on the north side towards the altar ; but his tomb (of grey 
 marble) is reputed to be in the south aile of St. George's Chapel at 
 Windsor, within a sepulchral or chantry Chapel, which was founded by 
 himself, and still goes by his name. So far, therefore, the evidence 
 preponderates in corroboration of his remains having been deposited at 
 Windsor, notwithstanding the contrary directions of his Will ; and as 
 there is no tomb at Bath that has ever been assigned to him, nor any 
 record of his burial there, we may safely conclude, that Windsor was 
 the actual place of his interment. The full length portraitures and 
 armorial bearings of the four Sovereigns to whom he was secretary, are 
 painted on the pannels of an oaken screen, forming part of the inclosure 
 
BISHOP OLIVER KING. 47 
 
 This Prelate, who is thought to have been perfectly 
 conversant with the Pointed style of architecture, is said 
 to have been influenced to commence the rebuilding of 
 this Church by a dream, or vision, which he very simply 
 mistook for a divine communication. Of this vision, 
 which, Wood says, occurred to the Bishop when he 
 came to Bath " to institute Prior Birde into his office,'' 
 in the year 1499, Sir John Harington gives the following- 
 pleasing and familiar account : — « 
 
 " Here I may by no meanes omitt, yet I can scant 
 tell how to relate the pretty tales that are told of this 
 Bishop King, by what visions and predictions he was 
 incouraged and discouraged in the building of this 
 churche, whether some cunning woman had foretold 
 him of the spoyle that followd, (as Paulus Jovius wrytes 
 how a Witch deceaved his next successor Hadryan, 
 Bishop of Bathe) ; or whether his own mynde running 
 of it, gave him occasion, sleeping, to dream of that he 
 thought waking ; but this goes for currant, and confirmed 
 with pretty probabilities — that lying at Bathe, and 
 musing or meditating one night late, after his devotions 
 and prayers for the prosperity of Henry Vllth and his 
 children (who were then all or most part lyving), to 
 which King he was principal Secretary, and by him 
 
 of the choir, opposite to his chantry at Windsor ; and under them is 
 the following incomplete inscription, in black letter ; which he, doubt- 
 less, had placed there previously to his translation to Bath and Wells : 
 of late years the portraits have been repainted — " Orate pro Diio Olivero 
 Kyng, Juris Professore, ac illustris Edwardi primogeniti Regis Henrici 
 Sexti, et Serenissimorum Regum Edwardi Quarti, Edwardi Quinti, et 
 Henrici Septimi, Principali Secretario, dignissimi Ordinis Garterij Re- 
 gistrio, et huius Sacri Collegii Canonico, A , Dfii 1489 : et postea per 
 dictum Illustrissim. Rege Henrici Sept m . A Dni 1492, ad sede Exoni- 
 ensem eomedato.'" See Carter's " Ancient Sculpture and Painting." 
 
48 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 preferred to his bishoprick ; he saw, or supposed he saw, 
 a vision of the Holy Trynitie, with angells ascending and 
 descending by a ladder, neer to the foote of which there 
 was a fayre Olive tree, supporting a crowne, and a voyce 
 that said — ' Let an Olive establish the Crowne, and 
 let a King restore the Church.' Of this dreame, or 
 vision, he took exceeding great comfort, and told it 
 divers of his frends, applying it to the King his master 
 in parte, and some part to himselfe. To his master, 
 because the Olive being the emblem or hieroglifick of 
 peace and plentie, seemed to him to allude to King 
 Henry Vllth, who was worthely counted the wisest and 
 most peaceable King in all Europe of that age. To 
 himself, (for the wisest will flatter themselves somtime), 
 because he was not only a chiefe councellor to this 
 King, and had bene his ambassador to conclude the 
 v most honourable peace with Charles the 8. who paid 
 (as Hollinshed wryteth) 745 thousand ducketts, beside a 
 yearly tribute of 25,000 crowns ; but also he carried 
 both the Olive and the King in his own name ; and 
 therefore thought he was specially designed for this 
 church-worke, to the advauncement of which he had 
 an extraordinary inclynation. Thus though (as St. 
 Thomas of Aquin well noteth) all dreames, be they 
 never so sencible, will be found to hault in some part 
 of their coherence ; and so perhaps may this ; yet most 
 certaine it is, he was so transported with his dreame, for 
 the tyme, that he presently set in hand with this Church, 
 (the ruins whereof I rue to behold even in wryting theis 
 lynes) ; and at the west end thereof he caused a repre- 
 sentation to be graved of this his Vision of the Trynitie, 
 the angells, and the ladder ; and on the north side the 
 olive and crown, with certain French wordes, which 
 
ACCOUNT OF BISHOP KING. 49 
 
 I could not reade ; but in English is this vearse, taken 
 out of the book of Judges, chap. 9. 
 
 Trees going to chuse their King 
 Said, ' be to us the Olive King.' 
 
 All which is so curiously cut and carved, as in the west 
 part of England is no better worke than in the west end 
 of this poor church ; and to make the credit of all this 
 more authentique, he added this worde to it, ' de sursum 
 est,* it is from on high. Thus much the stones and walls 
 (though dumb witnesses, yet credible,) doe playnly 
 testifie*." 
 
 Under the powerful impression of this dream, Bishop 
 King issued Injunctions, anno 1500, to the Prior and 
 convent of Bath, peremptorily decreeing that the ex- 
 penditure of their revenues should be reduced in the 
 manner he assigned, and that the residue should be 
 absolutely expended in erecting a new Church, f At 
 that period the annual income amounted to 480/. 16s. 6d. ; 
 of which rental the Bishop directed that eight marks 
 per annum should be allowed to the Prior, and eighty 
 pounds to the sixteen monks, for their due support : for 
 repairs on their different manors he assigned 40/., and 
 10/. for the wages of servants, besides some smaller 
 allowances : the remainder he appropriated to his in- 
 tended building ; which he soon afterwards commenced 
 
 * Harington's " Nugse Antiquae," vol. ii. p. 136 — 138. Park's 
 edition. The words which the worthy knight calls French, are sup- 
 posed to be the following in Latin, being a translation of the English 
 lines given above : 
 
 " Jerunt ligna ut ungerent super se regem, 
 Dixeruntque Olivse, impera nobis." 
 
 f Warner's " History of Bath," Appendix, No. XLIX. 
 
 E 
 
50 15 A Til A lilJKY C B tfBOU. 
 
 at a short distance, westward, from the old Church, the 
 walls of which were standing in Leland's time *. The 
 Bishop pursued the work with zeal, " and declared," 
 according to Wood, " his disregard to any extraordinary 
 expense, so that he could but see it finished ; but he 
 died before the south and west parts of the building were 
 covered in, or even all the walls were raised to their 
 proper height 'f\" He was ably assisted by Prior 
 Birde, who carried on the work after the Bishop's 
 decease, and built a monumental chapel for himself 
 within the choir : his rebus, a W, and a Bird, is yet 
 to be seen on various parts of the edifice. Warner, in 
 his amplification of Wood's statement, says, that Birde's 
 liberality, in respect to this structure, was so unbounded, 
 as "to swallow up the whole of his fortune, and reduce 
 him to poverty." Wood's account is, that " he expended 
 so much money as impoverished him, and made him die 
 very poor," in May, 1525;}:. Prior Holleweye, alias 
 
 * " Oliver King began of late dayes a, right goodly new Chirch at the 
 west part of the old Chirch of St. Peter, and finishid a great peace of it. 
 The residue of it was syns made by the Priors of Bathe ; and especially 
 by Gibbes, the last Prior t ; :er; that spent a great summe of mony on 
 that Fabricke. — Oliver Kimj let almost al the old Chirch of St. Peter's, 
 in Bath, to go to mine : the walles yet stande." Itinerary, vol. ii. p. 40 : 
 edit. 1744. 
 
 f " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. 195. 
 
 X Prior Birde, on the authority of Ashmole, is commonly reputed to 
 have applied himself to the study of chemistry, or rather of alchemy ; 
 but a comparison of dates will shew that Holleweye must have been the 
 person really meant, for he, and not Birde, was Prior of Bath at the time 
 of the Dissolution. The chemical knowledge of Prior Holleweye must 
 be estimated from the character of the age in which he lived. Chemistry 
 had not then attained the rank of a science, but consisted merely of a 
 few detached facts, relating chiefly to the properties of metallic bodies, 
 and a vast mass of wild speculation ; accompanied with fallacious in- 
 
PRIOR HOLLOW ATE. 51 
 
 Gybbs, continued the work ; and, according to Leland, 
 " spent a great summe of mony on that fabricke :" but 
 
 structions for forming the Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, the 
 Universal Panacea, and other imaginary preparations, which were sup- 
 posed to possess the power of bestowing- on the industrious Adept, riches, 
 health, and long life, if not immortality ; but which uniformly conducted 
 the deluded victim of false science to poverty and distress. Such is said 
 to have been the fate of our Prior ; of whose presumed studies and mis- 
 fortunes a curious account is preserved, in a poetical treatise on Alchemy, 
 published by Ashmole, in his " Theatrum Chemicum," P. I. This piece 
 is intituled " The Breviary of Naturall Philosophy, compiled by the un- 
 lettered scholar, Thomas Charnock, the first of January, A.D. 1557." 
 Charnock professes to have derived a considerable part of his knowledge 
 from the Prior of Bath, of whom he thus speaks : — 
 
 " And now to obteyne thy purpose more rathe 
 
 Let thy fire be as temperate as the Bath of the Bathe. 
 
 Oh what a goodly and profitable Instrument 
 
 Is the Bath of the Bathe for our fiery intent ! 
 
 To seeke all the World throughout I should not finde 
 
 For profit and liberty a Fire more fitt to my minde. 
 
 Goe or ride where you list for the space of a yeare, 
 
 Thou needest not care for the mending of thy fire. 
 
 A Monke of Bathe, which of that house was Prvor, 
 
 Tould me in seacret he occupied none other fire ; 
 
 To whom 1 gave credit, even at the first season, 
 
 Because it depended upon very good reason. 
 
 He had our Stone, our Medicine, our Elixir, and all, 
 
 Which when the Abbie was supprest he hid in a wall : 
 
 And ten dayes after he went to fetch it out, 
 
 And there he found but the stople of a cloute. 
 
 Then he told me he was in such an Agonie, 
 
 That for the loss thereof he thought he should be frenzie ; 
 
 And a toy took him in the head to run such a race, 
 
 That many a yeare after he had no setting place : 
 
 And more, he is darke and cannot see, 
 
 But hath a Boy to lead him through the country. 
 
 I hapned to come on a day where as he was. 
 
 And by a word or two that lie let paSM 
 
52 BATH ABBE? fill UC H. 
 
 all the exertions of the Priors were unable to carry into 
 effect the liberal design of Bishop King*. A great 
 change had taken place in the public mind : the Re- 
 formation was daily gaining ground, and the dissolution 
 of monastic establishments fast approaching. The pious 
 zeal which had raised so many splendid ecclesiastical 
 edifices at a vast expense, was rapidly cooling ; and but 
 little aid could now be obtained beyond the precincts of 
 the cloister. On the contrary, part of the lead, in- 
 tended for the roof, was stolen, and the money, which 
 had been collected to proceed with the work, was 
 intercepted by profane hands, and applied to secular 
 purposes^. 
 
 I understood streight he was a Philosopher, 
 For which cause I drewe to him neare ; 
 And when the Company was all gone, 
 And none but his Boy and He and I alone, 
 Master, quoth I, for the love of God and charity, 
 Teach me the seacrets of Naturall Philosophy." 
 
 Warner, on the authority of Ashmole's notes to this poem, says that 
 Birde " died poor and blind ;" but if Charnock's poetical relation be 
 correct, it must be concluded that both Warner and Ashmole are alto- 
 gether mistaken ; and that Gybbs, or Holleweye, who was certainly the 
 last Prior of Bath, was the blind and unfortunate Alchemist with whom 
 Charnock formed an acquaintance, and whose skill he celebrates. 
 
 * " Itinerary ," ut sup. In the 28th of Henry the Eighth, Prior Gybbs 
 granted the reversion of the office for life, of " Master of all the Works" 
 of the Convent, " commonly called Freemasonry," to John Multon, free- 
 mason, in reward for his former diligence and faithful service ; together 
 with an annual salary of forty shillings. Edivard Leycester, Multon's 
 predecessor in that office, is mentioned in the same grant. Vide Warner's 
 " Bath," Appendix, No. LVIII. It is remarkable, that in this instrument 
 the Holy Saviour is named, with the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, as 
 a tutelar of the Church of Bath. 
 
 + " Anglia Sacra," pars i. p. 576 : — " quando sacrilegi quidam, favente 
 temporis iniquitate, laminas plumbeas abripuerunt, et pecuniam ad opus 
 perficiendum collectam interverterunt." 
 
ITS NEGLECTED STATE. 53 
 
 It is not unlikely that Bishop King had fully antici- 
 pated the gathering storm, which the corruptions of the 
 Romish church had engendered ; and which, though in 
 some instances of a destructive tendency, was happily 
 the means of freeing this country from Papal tyranny 
 and Catholic imposition. — " I heard by one Flowre of 
 Phillips Norton," says Harington, speaking of the new 
 Church, that " this Bishop would wishe he had paid 
 above the price of it, so it might have been finisht, for 
 if he ended it not it would be pulld down ere it were 
 perfected*." From the same author, we learn that 
 whilst the Church was yet in a neglected state, and 
 " since the 43d yeare of Queene Elizabeth," the fol- 
 lowing lines " were written by an English gentleman," 
 — probably Harington himself, — " on the church wall 
 with a charcoale :" — 
 
 " O Church ! I waile thy wofull plight, 
 
 Whom King nor Card'nall, Gierke nor Knight, 
 Have yet restor'd to auncient right." 
 
 Alluding herein, as Fuller has remarkedf, " to Bishop 
 King, who began it ; and his four successors, in thirty - 
 
 * " Nugae Antiquge," vol. ii. p. 139. Bishop King died on the 24th 
 of January, 1503-4. 
 
 f " Worthies of England," vol. ii. p. 277. edit. 1811. On some other 
 lines, which Harington says were written for " the comfort of this Church, 
 by a Captaine of an other contrie ;" and are thus given by him : 
 
 " Be blythe, faire Kerk, when Hempe is past, 
 Thine Olyve, that ill wynds did blast, 
 Shall flourish green, for ay to last :" 
 
 Fuller remarks, " By Hempe, understand Henry the Eighth, .Edward the 
 Sixth, Queen Mary, King Philip, and Queen Elizabeth. The author, as 
 I suspect, had a tang of the cask; and being parcel-papish, expected the 
 
•34 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 five years, viz. Cardinal Adrian, Cardinal Wolsey, Bishop 
 Clark, and Bishop Knight, contributing nothing to the 
 effectual finishing thereof. 1 ' 
 
 After the surrender of the monastery, in 1539, the 
 Commissioners, says Harington, " in reverence and com- 
 passion of the place, did so far strayne their commission 
 that they offerd to sell the whole Church to the towne 
 under 500 marks : but the townsmen fearing they might 
 be thought to cosen the King if they bought it so cheape, 
 or that it might after (as many things were) be found 
 conceal'd, utterly refused. Whereupon certeine Mer- 
 chants bought all the glass, iron, bells, and lead ; of 
 which lead alone was accompted for (as I have crecliblie 
 heard) 480 tunne, worth at this day 4,800/.*" 
 
 Shortly after the monastic estates had been granted 
 to Humphry Colles, as before stated, that gentleman 
 disposed of the site and buildings of the Priory to 
 Matthew Colthurst, Esq. ; whose son Edmund, imme- 
 diately after the decease of his father, in the beginning 
 of the year 1560, " made the city a present of the 
 carcass of St. Peters church, with the ground upon 
 the east, west, and north sides of it f ;" and the whole 
 is still the property of the Corporation. The Abbey- 
 House, which had been the residence, in succession, 
 both of the Abbots and Priors, and which stood on the 
 
 finishing of this Church at the return of their Religion ; but his pre- 
 diction was verified in a better sense, when this Church was finished by 
 James Montague, Bishop of this See, disbursing vast sums in the same, 
 though the better enabled thereunto by his Mines at Mynedep, so that 
 he did but remove the seed from the bowels of the earth to the roof 
 of the Church ; wherein he lies enterred under a fair Monument." 
 Ibid. p. 278. 
 
 * " Nugae Antiqua:'," vol. ii. p. 141. 
 
 t Wood's " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. 199. 
 
REPARATION'S. 55 
 
 south of the Church, together with its immediate pre- 
 cincts, tenements, appurtenances, &c, in Bath, and the 
 Prior's Park, near Combe Down, were sold by the said 
 Edmund Colthurst, on the 27th of January, 1569, to 
 Fulk Morley, Esq., from whom the Abbey estate has 
 descended through the late Duke of Kingston to the 
 present Earl Manvers. The Prior's Park estate is now 
 the property of John Thomas, a quaker, who purchased 
 it of the representatives of the late Lord Hawarden, to 
 whom it had devolved from the Aliens*. 
 
 The first attempt to improve the state of this Church 
 after the Dissolution, was made by a military officer, 
 named Peter Chapman, who was the eldest son of a 
 clothier, mentioned by Leland, by whom, " in hominam 
 memorial with two others in the same trade, of the 
 names of Style and Kent, " the Toun of Bath florishidf." 
 He was born in 1506, and having served in the wars 
 in France and the Low Countries, in the reigns of 
 Henry the Eighth and Queen Elizabeth, he attained to 
 the rank of a Serjeant Major, and when in his 82d 
 year, in 1588, led a brigade of 800 veteran soldiers to 
 Tilbury CampJ. This gentleman repaired the east 
 end of the north aisle, about the year 1572 ; and soon 
 afterwards the Queen's letters patent were obtained, 
 
 * The present mansion at Prior Park was built by Wood, for Mr. Allen, 
 the amiable prototype oi* Fielding's Airworthy, and was, during the life of its 
 first possessor, frequently occupied by the most distinguished wits of the 
 age. It may be said to have been the Attic seat of Genius : but it has 
 lately presented a lamentable contrast. Part of this finely picturesque 
 estate is now a stone quarry. 
 
 t " Itinerary," vol. ii. p. 39. 2d edit. 
 
 \ Wood's " Description of Bath," vol. i. p. "201 : from Chapman's 
 Epitaph. 
 
56 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 authorising collections to be made for seven years in 
 every part of the Kingdom, for the completion of this 
 Church, and the rebuilding of St. John's Hospital. 
 With the produce, the latter purpose was effected ; 
 but all that was done to the Church, was by erecting a 
 timber roof, covered with blue slate, over the east, the 
 north, and some of the south part of the fabric, and 
 roofing and flooring the tower*/' The uppermost 
 windows on the north side of the choir were glazed 
 at the expense of Thomas, Earl of Sussex, Lord Cham- 
 berlain to Queen Elizabeth, prior to 1584 ; and 10/. 
 was given towards the glazing of the opposite windows, 
 by Walter Calicut of Williamscote, in Oxfordshire. 
 The work then stopped for several years, nor was it 
 again proceeded with till some time after the defeat of 
 the Spanish Armada, when, from the liberality of Lord 
 Burleigh, and Thomas Bellot, or Billet, Esq., his 
 steward, and afterwards his executor, the choir was 
 
 * Ibid. p. 201. It appears, both from Camden's account, and from a 
 letter of Sir John Harington's, published in his " Metamorphosis of 
 Ajax," or a Jakes, in 1596, that some part of the money which had been 
 collected by means of the Queen's brief, had been improperly diverted 
 to private uses. Queen Elizabeth had been twice at Bath, and had 
 given directions for the improvement of the baths, &c. Speaking of her 
 first visit, prior to 1591, Harington says — " The fair Church her High- 
 nesse gave order should be re-edified stands at a stay, &c. Wherefore 
 if your Lordship [probably Lord Burleigh] would authorise me, or some 
 wiser than me, to take a strict account of the money by her Majesty's 
 gracious grants gathered and to be gathered, which, in the opinion of 
 manie, cannot be lesse than ten thousand pounds, (though not to wrong 
 them, I thinke they have bestowed upon the point of 10,000 pounds, 
 abating but one cipher,) I would not doubt, of a ruinate Church to make 
 a reverent Church, and of an unsavorie town a most sweet town." Ibid, 
 pp. 75, 76. 
 
PROGRESS OP THE CHURCH. 57 
 
 inclosed, and fitted up for Divine service ; the latter 
 gentleman * having been at the expense of 60/. for re- 
 pairing and glazing the great east window only. The 
 Church was then re-consecrated, and dedicated to St. 
 Peter and St. Paul. 
 
 The south part of the transept, and most of the nave, 
 were still unroofed, and otherwise incomplete ; and in 
 this state they remained till about the accession of James 
 the First, when Mr. Bellot contributed a further sum of 
 200/. towards finishing the transept : in 1604, Sir William 
 Paston, of Norfolk, knt., gave 100/., and smaller contri- 
 butions were made by divers persons ; yet the work 
 went but slowly forwards till after the promotion to this 
 
 * The following passage relative to this generous benefactor to the 
 Abbey Church, is extracted from an article in Peck's " Desiderata Cu- 
 riosa," No. IV. lib. vi. intituled — " The Observations of Mr. John 
 Bowles, Chaplain to the Lord Treasurer, Sir Rob. Cecill, Earl of Salis- 
 bury, as to the carriage of the said Earl in his last sickness, after he 
 went from London to Bath, until the time of his death ; being a true 
 copy of the account ivhich the said Mr. Bowles delivered unto the right 
 reverend James Montague, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells." — " This 
 daie my lord removed his lodginge, and was desirous to see the great 
 Church in Bathe, where ould master [Thomas] Bellot [his father's 
 steward, and one of his executors] had bestowed some money of his 
 father's, committed to his trust ; and a great part likewise of his owne 
 substance. The Church he much liked, and the liberalities of such be- 
 nefactors as had brought it to soe good perfection. Addinge, ' that he 
 would himself bestowe some good remembrance to the fynishing thearof.' 
 And (because oulde Mr. Bellot had spent all uppon charitable uses, and 
 left nothinge for his kinsman,) my lord, in the Churche, saide, ' I give to 
 my servant Bellot 20Z. a yeare, duringe his naturall life.'" Lord Salisbury 
 had visited Bath, in the hope of deriving benefit from the waters. He 
 expressed a wish to be interred in the Abbey Church, in case of his 
 death happening at Bath : but after a short stay in that city, he was 
 removed to Marlborough, where he died, May 24, 1612. 
 
58 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 See of Dr. James Montague, in March 1608. The 
 situation of the Church at that period may be readily 
 appreciated from Harington's account of Bishop King : 
 — " Thus speedily it was pull'd down," says the worthy 
 knight, " but how slow it hath rysen again, I may blush 
 to wryte. Collections have bene made over all England, 
 with which the chauncell is covered with blew slate, and 
 an alms-house built, ex abundantia ; but the whole body 
 of the Church stands bare, e.r humilitate. The rest of 
 the money never comming to the townsmen's hands, is 
 laid up (as I suppose) with the money collected for 
 Paul's steeple, which I leave to a melius inquirendum. 
 And thus the Church lies still, like the poore traveller 
 mentioned in the 10th of Luke, spoiled and wounded by 
 theeves. The Priest goes by, the Levites go by, but 
 doe nothing : only a good Samaritan, honest Mr. Billet 
 (worthy to be billeted in the New Jerusalem,) hath powr'd 
 some oyle in the wounds, and maintained it in life*." — 
 
 Sir John Harington, who was the godson and kinsman 
 of Queen Elizabeth, and whose mansion was at Kelston, 
 near Bath, was particularly solicitous to procure aid to 
 complete the Church ; and there is a tradition extant, 
 that Bishop Montague was led to direct his bounty 
 into that channel, by the knight's ready conception and 
 address ; as thus : — Whilst the Bishop was at Bath, 
 walking in the grove, on his primary visitation, he was 
 suddenly caught in a violent shower, which induced him, 
 on the invitation of Sir John, to seek shelter in the 
 Church. The knight took him into the north aisle, 
 which being entirely roofless, afforded but little security 
 from the storm ; and Bishop Montague remarked, that 
 
 * " Nugae Antiquse," vol. ii. p. 142. 
 
HAHINGTONS LETTERS. 59 
 
 they were still in the rain. " How can that be," re- 
 turned Harington, " seeing that we are within the 
 Church?" " True," quoth the Prelate, " but your 
 Church is unroofed, Sir John." " The more is the 
 pity !" rejoined his shrewd companion ; " and the more 
 doth it call for the munificence of your lordship *." 
 
 * In the Preface to the " Nugse Antiquso," this is somewhat dif- 
 ferently stated. On the Bishop remarking, that his situation did not 
 shelter him from the rain, the Knight is made to reply — " Doth it not, 
 my Lord? Then let me sue your bounty towards covering our poor 
 Church ; for if it keep not us safe from the waters above, how shall it 
 ever save others from the fire beneath?" Ibid. p. xvii. 
 
 The assistance of Mr. Sutton, (the benevolent founder of the present 
 establishment at the Charter House, in London,) towards the completion 
 of the Abbey Church, was strenuously solicited by Sir J. Harington, as 
 will appear by the following passages from different letters to him. In a 
 letter, dated " Greenwich, 13th June, 1608," Sir John says : — 
 
 " Onlie my old friend, you may not forgett to be a benefactor to 
 Bath Church in your lifetime; for Alms in one's life is like a light borne 
 before one, whereas Alms after death is like a candle carried behind one. 
 Do somewhat for this Church : you promis't to have seen it ere this. 
 Whensoever you will go to Bathe, my lodgings shall be at your com- 
 mandmente. The Baths would strengthen your sinews ; the Alms 
 would comfort your soule. The Tower, the Quyre, and two Isles, are 
 already finisht by Mr. Billett, Executor to the worthie Lord Treasurer 
 Burleigh. The Walls are up, ready for covering; the Leade is promised 
 by our bountifull Bishop Dr. Montague; the Timber is promised by the 
 Earl of Shrewsburie, the Earle of Hartford, the Lord Say, Mr. Robert 
 Hopton, and others. There lacks but monie for Workmanship, which if 
 you would give, you should have many good prayers in the Church now 
 in your lifetime, when they may indeed doe you good, and when 
 the time is to ' make friends of the mammon of iniquity, (as Christ 
 bids us,) that we may be received into everlasting tabernacles ;' to which 
 God send us, to whose protection I leave you." Ibid. vol. i. pp. 378, 
 379. 
 
 In another letter, dated Sept. 5th, 1608, he again urges Mr. Sutton 
 to alms-giving ; and after stating that he would keep his lodging*, at 
 
60 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Struck with the justness of the remark, the Bishop is 
 said to have directed his attention to the pile from that 
 moment, and under his generous auspices the building 
 was eventually finished. 
 
 Whatever degree of credit may be thought due to 
 this traditionary report, we have a more certain evidence 
 of Sir John's endeavour to engage the Bishop to complete 
 this edifice, in a brief memorandum under his own hand, 
 namely : — " Havinge longe waitede for our goode Bishope 
 to visite his poore sheepe and rotten folde, I rubbede my 
 braines for suche rustie Latine as might remaine therein, 
 and was bent to meete him at the place of visitation ; 
 
 Bath, whilst there remained any hope of his coming thither, he adds, 
 — " You rich men should open your barnes ; give, lend, distribute to 
 the poore, and lay up threfold in Heaven ; ffayth ys good, hope ys 
 good, but charity ys the cheefer, 'major horum caritas."' — He next 
 mentions various persons then residing at Bath ; and among them, 
 " Saynt Billet, the benefactor of this Church, and founder of the new 
 Hospitall for lame Pilgrims ; and concludes — I can let you have honest 
 roome, and cost mee never a peny." Malcolm's " Londinium Redi- 
 vivum," vol. i. p. 399. 
 
 In a third letter, written on the day of his quitting London, (Dec. 
 21, 1608,) he once more presses Mr. Sutton to visit Bath, " and when 
 you see the place," he continues, " and fynde (as I wysh) that God 
 geve you helth, then let God work w th . you for the good of the Church 
 and Poore thear, by whose prayr yo r . lyfe and helth may bee continewd 
 yet seavn yeer at least, — and so I will end w th . this distich, that my 
 father taught mee above 40 yeer since : 
 
 In doing good use no delay, 
 
 For tyme ys swift and slydes away." 
 
 As Mr. Sutton's name does not appear in the list of benefactors, it is 
 most probable that his increasing infirmities, and many cares respecting 
 his foundation at the Charter House, prevented his purposed visit to 
 Bath : he died on the 12th of December, 1611. 
 
ACCOUNT OF BISHOP MONTAGUE. 61 
 
 and being well encouraged to speak roundelye for his 
 service, to helpe us on in restoringe our Churche to its 
 olde state, or rather to a new state of bewtie ; after all 
 was ended, and his benedictions given, I began with my 
 own "Sisnobiscum, Domine" and started up in the Church 
 isle with my Poetrye, or rather Historie ; for I sought 
 not to give it the flower, but lookede more for the goode 
 fruit that mighte come of my spare sowinge. Herein I 
 faylede not, and though some mighte thinke me too 
 bolde, it was to make others somewhate bountifull : the 
 Bishope seemed not ill pleasede, and answerede me in 
 suche sorte as made me think verie well of him, and per- 
 chance not too ill of myselfe*." The Bishop's reply 
 was — " Cupivi diu, has ruinas, et haec rudera, videre et ' 
 contemplari ; has vero ruinas et liEec rudera, videre et 
 contemplari, jam dolet: Ingrediar tamen, sed hoc animo, 
 ut nunquam, hoc more, sim reingressurus, prius quam 
 isthaec melius tecta viderof." 
 
 * Vide Warner's " History of Bath," p. 1.59. Note. The Knight's 
 Poem was first published in 1679, by Guidott, in his Appendix to Dr. 
 Jorden's " Discourse of Natural Baths;" and again, in his " Discourse 
 of Bath," with a translation, but of little merit. The Poem is intituled 
 — " Conditiones varice Ecclesice Sancti Petri et Pauli Bathonensis d 
 primis Fundament is jactis, anno 775, ad annum decurrentem \QQ§ f 
 Historico-Poetica E^yy^i; ; deque fcelicissima ejusdem Ecclesice restau- 
 ratione, Vaticinium. , ' 
 
 t Although Sir J. Harington may claim the merit of having called 
 forth the liberality of Bishop Montague, much must be attributed to the 
 natural generosity of disposition which characterised that Prelate; for he 
 not only bestowed a thousand pounds towards the completion of the 
 Abbey Church, but also expended considerable sums in repairing and 
 decorating the episcopal palaces of Wells and Banwell, and the cathedral 
 of Wells. He was descended from the family of the Montagues, or 
 Montacutes, Earls of Salisbury. Being educated at Cambridge, he be- 
 came Master of Sydney College. He was afterwards made Dean of 
 
62 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Bishop Montague commenced the new work by a do- 
 nation of 1000/., and his generous example occasioned 
 many other persons to subscribe liberally towards the 
 furtherance of the design, so that the fabric of the Church 
 was entirely completed about the period at which this 
 munificent prelate was translated to Winchester ; which 
 was on the 4th of October, 1616. His brother, Sir Henry 
 Montague, knt., Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 
 was at the charge of embellishing the great west doors ; 
 and the Vestry was built by Sir Nicholas Salterns, knt., 
 of London * : the latter building, though attached to the 
 wall of the Abbey Church, is actually in the parish of 
 
 Worcester, and next promoted to this See, whence, in 1616, he was 
 translated to Winchester : he died in the latter city, about two years 
 afterwards, but was interred at Bath. Bishop Montague is known in the 
 literary world as the translator of the works of James the First into 
 Latin. A copy of this edition, (published in 1616,) splendidly bound in 
 velvet and gold, with the royal arms embossed on the cover, was given 
 to the University of Cambridge by the King himself, and is still pie- 
 served in the Public Library. The Bishops of this See, in the reigns 
 of Elizabeth and James the First, derived vast sums from their lead- 
 mines, near Mendip. Of this abundant crop, Bishop Still is said to 
 have had the harvest ; Bishop Montague, the gleanings ; and Lake, who 
 filled the See after him, the stubble ; " and yet," says Fuller, " consi- 
 derable was the profit to him and his successors." Vide " Worthies," 
 in Somersetshire. 
 
 Dyer, in his notices of this prelate, published in his " History of 
 the University and Colleges of Cambridge," 1814, 8vo. vol. i. p. 105; 
 and vol. ii. p. 427 ; has committed more than one mistake. He calls 
 him Henry Montague, and states that he " was first Bishop of Bath 
 and Wells, then of Winchester, translated at length to Worcester, and 
 lies buried in the cathedral church." — The passages marked in italics 
 are obviously erroneous. 
 
 * The names of the principal benefactors, with various minute par- 
 ticulars concerning the progress of the work, will be seen in the Appen- 
 dix, No. V. 
 
B E C B X T I .M P R V E M E NTS. 03 
 
 »St. James. The expenses of the paving, glazing, fittings 
 up, &c, were defrayed by different individuals, many of 
 whom had been induced to display their bounty thus by 
 the Rev. John Pelling, rector of Bath ; and the Corpora- 
 tion, from a grateful regard for his services, erected, in 
 the year 1621, a monument to his memory, in the north 
 aile. 
 
 It will not be necessary to notice the various minor 
 repairs and alterations which have been since made ; but 
 a considerable improvement has been recently effected in 
 the outward appearance of this Church, as well as a per- 
 manent advantage obtained, by the pulling- down of some 
 buildings which had long obstructed the complete view of 
 its architectural features towards the north * ; and which 
 
 * The adoption of this measure has been occasioned by various cir- 
 cumstances, among which may be included the inquiries and comments 
 of antiquaries and literary men. The exhortations of the Rev. Francis 
 Skurray, in a Sermon preached in the Abbey Church, in 1816, and 
 since published, must also have had some influence on the corporate 
 members. 
 
 " I scruple not to call your attention," says Mr. Skurray, " to 
 another local, and what many will deem an unsuitable, subject of con- 
 sideration, not as to Avhat regards police, but embellishment. If the 
 prediction, ' the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places 
 plain,' (Isaiah xi. 4.) was to be among ' the signs of the times,' in its 
 literal acceptation, where should we find its more complete development 
 than in this elegantly constructed city ? 
 
 " But there is one alteration, one improvement still wanting, which, 
 in its connexion with religion, is not unworthy of recommendation from 
 a place that is occupied by the ambassador of God. 
 
 " We are at this moment assembled within a Temple whose vaulted 
 roof has for centuries reverberated wit \ ' Hallelujah, for the Lord God 
 Omnipotent reigneth.' (Rev. xix. 6.) We are assembled within walls 
 which inclose the ashes of piety and heroism from remote ages of 
 
64 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 had probably been erected against it when a mere shell, 
 or ruin, in the possession of Colles, or of Colthurst. 
 Those houses the Corporation of Bath determined, not 
 long since, to remove ; and it is understood that Earl 
 Manvers, the proprietor of some buildings attached to 
 the south wall of the Church, has consented to have 
 those removed also. As the first fruits of this determina- 
 
 antiquity. But how does it offend the eye of taste when we consider its 
 beautiful exterior screened from public view by crowded and incongruous 
 deformities ! 
 
 " If it be true, as a certain poet sings, that the mind receives from 
 external circumstances ' a secret, sympathetic aid ;' then a view of this 
 disencumbered Temple, rising from the consecrated ground in finished 
 proportions, would have a beneficial operation on the mind of man. It 
 would arrest the eye of the invalid, as he paused in his passage to yon 
 salubrious springs ; it would soften his heart to devotional sensibility; it 
 would raise it in secret breathings to the Great Physician of Souls to 
 bless their waters as instruments of his recovery. Nay, an indifferent 
 person could not pass by without sentiments of awe, without a desire of 
 becoming " wise unto salvation,' (2 Tim. iii. 15,) without an aspiration, 
 an effort to qualify himself, in order to dwell one day in a building of 
 God, ' a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' (2 Cor. v. 1.) 
 
 " But if you deny the doctrine of the association of ideas, and of 
 mental impression through the medium of the senses, then effect the 
 removal of unsightly incumbrances, through a feeling of propriety and 
 decorum. If expense be cheerfully incurred in beautifying places of dis- 
 senting worship, ' shall parsimony be suffered to obscure the polished 
 corners of the temple?' (Psalm cxliv. 12.) Shall improvements appear 
 in every street and in every receptacle of fashion, and the house of God 
 be the solitary exception ? Oh ! furnish in these days of lukewarmness 
 a practical illustration to your fellow-citizens, that you love ' the habita- 
 tion of God's house, and the place where his honour dwelleth.' (Psalm 
 xxvi. 8.) Oh ! disregard not the voice of him who crieth, ' Prepare ye 
 the way of the Lord, make straight a highway for our God.' (Isaiah, 
 xl. 3.)" Vide " Sermons," &c, by the Rev. F. Skurray, M. A., 
 p. 186. 1817. 
 
ROMAN REMAINS. Q5 
 
 lion of the corporate body, a large house, which stood in 
 the angle formed by the choir of the Church, and the 
 north limb, or transept, was taken down in March 1823; 
 thus opening to the Grove a pleasing view of a part of 
 the fabric which had been long concealed. This has 
 been followed by the removal of two houses which joined 
 the north wall of the Church towards the west end. It 
 might have been expected that more of Oliver King's 
 architectural fancies would have been here brought to 
 light, as the houses covered parts of the building close 
 to the richly adorned west end ; but this has not 
 been the case, the walls being found perfectly plain. 
 The arched, or flying buttresses, in this part of the 
 Church, as conjectured by some persons, have been 
 cut aiway for the sake of the materials, the upper 
 parts of the masonry being yet visible ; but it is far 
 more probable that they were never finished. Consi- 
 dering the lightness of the vaulting of the nave in 
 comparison with that of the choir, we may conclude 
 that the former work did not require the aid of flying 
 buttresses, although the original architect had prepared 
 for their construction, in case a stone vaulting and 
 heavy roof had been adopted. Much credit is due to 
 the present Corporation for the alterations they have 
 made, and are now making, to improve the exterior 
 appearance of the Church. 
 
 The whole of the monastic buildings which were 
 attached to this Church have been destroyed ; but their 
 site is yet pointed out by the Kingston, or Abbey Baths, 
 which derive their waters from the same spring that 
 supplied the Thermce constructed on this very spot by 
 the Romans. For our knowledge of this circumstance 
 we are indebted to the discoveries made in the year 
 
 F 
 
06 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 1755, when the old Priory, or Abbey-house, was pulled 
 down to make way for new erections. On that occa- 
 sion, " in digging out the ancient foundation of the 
 priory, about eight feet below the surface of the earth, 
 the workmen found several rough-hewn stone coffins, 
 with the seemingly entire, but mouldering remains of 
 human bodies, of different ages and sexes, and several 
 pieces of coin of successive Saxon kings*;" and, " three 
 or four feet below the burying-place of the Saxons, were 
 discovered some cavities which led to the remains of 
 several very noble Roman baths and sudatories, con- 
 structed on elegant plans, with floors suspended [sus- 
 tained ?] upon square brick pillars, and surrounded 
 with tubulated bricks j\" From the more particular 
 and discriminating account of these Roman regains, 
 given by Dr. Lucas J, and afterwards amplified by 
 Dr. Sutherland ||, who has illustrated his description 
 by a ground-plan, it seems that the baths formed a 
 part of a magnificent building, consisting of a centre 
 and two wings, disposed into numerous apartments, 
 and covering an area of 260 feet from east to west, 
 and 120 feet from north to south. But although it 
 is stated, both by Whitaker § and "Warner ^[, that a 
 western wing has been discovered, " exactly tallying" 
 with the eastern one described by the above writers, 
 (and of course establishing the conjectures of Suther- 
 land,) yet it appears that this affirmed exploration of 
 
 * " Original Bath Guide," p. 5. f Ibid. 
 
 I " Essay on Mineral Waters," p. 3. 
 
 || " Attempts to revive Ancient Medical Doctrines," p. 1. 
 \ " Anti-Jacobin Review," vol. x. p. 127. 
 
 II " New Guide through Bath," p. 29. 
 
ARMS IN THE MONKS PARLOl U. G7 
 
 another wing rests on questionable authority. Whitaker 
 has strongly argued, that these remains were part of 
 the PrcEtorium, or Palatial residence of the Roman Com- 
 mandant of this city ; and that it afterwards became the 
 palace of the Saxon kings, under whom a portion of the 
 building " had been converted into a chapel and a bury- 
 ing-place." 
 
 Collinson says, at the period the Abbey-house was 
 rendered again habitable, some time after the Disso- 
 lution, that parts of it, such as " obsolete offices and 
 obscure rooms and lofts, " were left in their former 
 state, and never occupied after their desertion by the 
 monks. On " pulling down some of these buildings," 
 he continues, in the beginning of the last century, 
 " one of the apartments, which had been walled up, 
 disclosed a very curious and interesting sight. Round 
 the walls upon pegs were hung, as in a vestry-room — 
 which the place undoubtedly was — the copes, albs, 
 chesibles, and other garments of the religious ; which, 
 on the admission of the air, became so rotten as to 
 crumble into powder. There was also found the handle 
 of a crosier ; and on the floor lay two large chests, 
 without any contents, as it was alleged by the work- 
 men ; one of whom, however, grew rich upon the occa- 
 sion, and retired from business*." He also mentions 
 the following arms, as being in the window of a parlour 
 in the monks' lodgings, viz. : " 1. Argent, an Eagle 
 rising, Or : Prior Cantlow. 2. A Chevron between 
 three Eagles displayed, on a Chief a Rose inter two 
 Lozenges, over all a Mitre and Crozier : Prior Birde. 
 3. Party per Pale, indented, Gules and Or ; a Chevron 
 
 * " History of Somersetshire," vol. i. p, . r >8. 
 
68 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 of the last : Impaling Sable, two Bars Argent, in Chief 
 three Plates : Hungerford*." 
 
 * It appears from the " Hungerfordiana" of Sir Richard C. Hoare, 
 that after the marriage of Walter de Hungerford with Maud de Hey- 
 tesbury, the Hungerfords assumed the arms of her family, viz. Per 
 Pale, indented, Gules and Vert; a Chevron Or. There seems, there- 
 fore, to be an error in the blazonment of the above arms as given by 
 Collinson. After the marriage of another Walter de Hungerford, in the 
 time of Edward the Third, with Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir 
 Adam Fitz-John, of Cherill, in Wiltshire, some of the Hungerfords took 
 the arms of Fitz-John ; namely, Sable, two Bars Argent, in Chief three 
 Plates, as described in the text ; but many of the family continued to 
 bear those of Heytesbury. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FEATURES OF THE CITY OF BATH ARCHITECTURAL DE- 
 SCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH; WITH REFERENCES TO THE 
 ACCOMPANYING PRINTS. 
 
 It is difficult to render descriptive language on Architec- 
 tural subjects either amusing or interesting. Unaided 
 by engravings, it generally fails to be specific or intelli- 
 gible ; but when accompanied by correct pictorial deli- 
 neations, a writer must be dull indeed who fails to make 
 his own opinions intelligible to his reader. On such 
 occasions as the present, description is employed to 
 assist and explain the graphic illustrations ; and, united 
 with them, to elucidate and exemplify the forms, styles, 
 and characteristics of the building. It is well known to 
 the antiquary, that every edifice is composed of walls, 
 timbers, and various architectural members ; and it is a 
 curious fact that no two ancient buildings are precisely 
 alike. To define these dissimilarities, and at the same 
 time clearly to portray the aggregate character and indi- 
 vidual parts of each, is both the object and end of the 
 artist and author. In the large cathedrals, and in the 
 baronial castles of our ancestors, wherein many styles 
 of architecture have been successively introduced, it 
 requires considerable care and skill to describe and 
 illustrate the whole, and properly discriminate the 
 numerous gradations ; but in respect to Bath Abbey 
 Church there will not be much difficulty : for the 
 varied members of that edifice are not only of com- 
 paratively modern date, but their positive forms and 
 
70 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 details indicate the age when they were respectively 
 designed. 
 
 The natural character of the country, as well as the 
 peculiar features of the City in which this Church is 
 seated, cannot fail to attract the notice and secure the 
 admiration of every discerning stranger. They also 
 demand the attention of the historian, in consequence 
 of their immediate combination with the appearance of 
 the Abbey Church from different points. 
 
 The greater part of Bath is situated in a deep, 
 narrow valley, on the banks of the river Avon, which 
 meanders in a contracted channel, from east to west, 
 through the city. The features of the country are bold, 
 abrupt, and highly picturesque. Precipices, steep hills, 
 hanging woods, jutting rocks, narrow, irriguous valleys, 
 wild downs, and fair lawns, constitute the natural 
 scenery ; whilst the buildings that have been succes- 
 sively raised to suit the conveniences and fancies of the 
 inhabitants, are almost as diversified as Nature's capri- 
 cious countenance. With streets ascending steep hills, 
 or placed along the edges of precipices, and others dis- 
 posed many yards beneath the basements of houses that 
 overhang them ; a Circus, and Crescents with handsome 
 buildings of uniform and enriched architecture, private 
 mansions, elegant shops, detached villas, &c, Bath may 
 be regarded as a City of unique character and of great 
 attractions. Its houses are constructed of fine, smoothed 
 freestone, and most of them are enriched with architec- 
 tural ornaments. The streets are generally well paved 
 and lighted, and, by the judicious regulations of the 
 Corporation, are mostly kept clean. Fortunately here 
 are scarcely any manufactures, and nothing of com- 
 merce : the whole trade of the place seems adapted to 
 augment the comforts and the luxuries of life. Fashion 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. 71 
 
 has long chosen it as her head-quarters, and both nature 
 and art have contributed to administer to her wants and 
 caprices. In the midst of this famed emporium of gaiety 
 and elegance rises the Abbey Church ; which, though 
 a small building when compared to the Cathedrals of 
 York, Lincoln, Wells, and others, appears here promi- 
 nent, bold, and commanding. Its tower, turrets, and 
 clere-story windows, are seen high above the adjoining- 
 houses, and they collectively constitute a prominent 
 feature in every approach to the city. We find, how- 
 ever, on a closer view, that the Church itself is nearly 
 enveloped with houses, and the greater part of it shut 
 out from inspection. Till within a few years, the whole 
 of the north and south sides were immured by shops 
 and small houses ; its walls were cut into for closets, 
 and its windows obscured by the roofs and chimneys of 
 those buildings. The contiguous ground, being the 
 property of the Corporation, and of private individuals, 
 was let out to the best bidder, and considered as a 
 marketable commodity : the lessee, of course, no farther 
 regarded the sacred walls than as conducive to his own 
 domestic wants and trading advantages, without the 
 least reference either to the beauty of the building or to 
 its character or stability. Various encroachments were 
 in consequence made on the fabric, and many damages 
 sustained ; but since the commencement of the present 
 reign, a new and more enlightened policy has been 
 exercised : the Corporation have thought it prudent to 
 forego a considerable annual income from those shops, 
 and thereby give up private emolument to public appear- 
 ance and to the public wish. Some houses, that were 
 attached to the Church, have recently been removed, 
 and the whole are intended to be progressively taken 
 down. The Church will then be a clear, insulated 
 
72 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 edifice ; the Grove and the Abbey Churchyard will be 
 open to, and communicate with each other ; and, whilst 
 the Church will be amply and finely displayed to public 
 scrutiny and admiration, the surrounding houses will 
 increase in pleasantness, respectability, and value*. 
 At the early part of the last century the Church was 
 a common thoroughfare, or path of communication be- 
 tween the Grove on the east, and the Churchyard on 
 the west. General Wade, who possessed some pro- 
 perty and influence here, was shocked at this unhal- 
 lowed and disgusting practice, and opened a thorough- 
 fare, since called Wade's Passage, on the north side of 
 the Church. 
 
 The general Plan of the Abbey Church, like that 
 of our Cathedrals, is a cross, with an embattled 
 tower rising from the intersection of the nave and tran- 
 sept. It has arisen from this similarity, and from the 
 character of the architecture, combined with the ancient 
 connexion of the Abbey with the See of Bath and 
 Wells, that this Church has been so frequently, though 
 improperly, called a Cathedral. It never, however, had 
 the least title to that denomination ; for, although in- 
 debted for its origin to Bishop King, and for its com- 
 pletion to Bishop Montague, the charge of its erection 
 was altogether independent of the public revenues of the 
 See of Wells ; and even in Bishop King's time — who 
 contributed so largely from his own purse — as well as 
 
 * Among the laudable and rational improvements of the present age 
 in town architecture, is the formation of squares, wide streets, and 
 spacious openings. The conveniences, and even luxuries of life, are 
 thereby promoted and secured ; and even the landholder is ultimately 
 benefited. Bath has partaken of these reformations in an eminent 
 degree, and its Corporation and Citizens will manifest a profitable and 
 liberal policy to continue the improvements of the city. 
 
DISSOLUTION OF THE CONVENT. 73 
 
 afterwards, a great portion of the expenditure was de- 
 rived from the income of the Monks of Bath. Besides, 
 there never was any Cathedral establishment here ; and 
 whatever jurisdiction the bishop possessed over the abbot 
 and convent, that supremacy was entirely abrogated at 
 the period of the Reformation, when the convent itself 
 was dissolved, and the whole of the abbatial estates and 
 possessions became the property of lay proprietors. Still 
 less could it be termed a Cathedral, with any reference 
 to its actual state, after it was granted to the Corporation 
 of Bath, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and made 
 Parochial*. 
 
 Fuller, whose originality of thought and singular 
 association of ideas still interests through all his quaint- 
 ness, speaking of the churches of Bath and Wells, intro- 
 duces his remarks thus : " Twins are said to make but 
 one man, as these two churches constitute one Bishop's 
 See. Yet as a twin oft-times proves as proper a person 
 as those of single births ; so these severally equal most, 
 
 * The entire abrogation of every tie between Bath Abbey and the 
 See of Bath and Wells, was made a few years after the Reformation, by 
 an Act of Parliament passed in the 35th year of Henry VIII. After re- 
 citing various particulars relating to the former state of the See, &c, by 
 which it appeared that the Chapter of the Bishopric was jointly composed 
 of the Dean and Chapter of Wells and the Prior and Convent of Bath, 
 and that the common Seal of the latter, as well as that of the Dean and 
 Chapter of Wells, was necessary to give validity to every deed granted 
 by the Bishop in respect to the Episcopal estates — it provides that all 
 grants, leases, &c, which had been made under the Seals of the Bishop 
 and the Dean and Chapter of Wells since the Dissolution, should be 
 good and available in law, notwithstanding the doubts which had been 
 entertained; and that in future, the Dean and Chapter of Wells should 
 be for ever reported and adjudged to be, " the full, entire, and sole 
 Chapter of the Bishopric of Bath and Wells." Vide Dugdale's " Monas- 
 ticon," vol. ii. p. 294 : edit. 1819. 
 
74 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 and exceed many, cathedrals in England*." Of Bath 
 Church, singly, he observes : " This church is both 
 spacious and specious, the most lightsome as ever I beheld, 
 proceeding from the greatness of the Windows and 
 whiteness of the Glass therein -j"." Similar praise is 
 bestowed by Chapman; who says — " This Church 
 justly challenging to itself the Pre-eminence for Light- 
 someness, Stateliness, and Elegance of Structure, of all 
 the Parochial Churches in the Kingdom J." It was, 
 unquestionably, the peculiar lightness of the interior 
 that occasioned this fabric to be denominated the Lantern 
 of England ; and not, as Wood has darkly stated, " from 
 the elegance of the disguised Orders in the building ||." 
 
 In the ground plan of this Church there is a con- 
 siderable variation from most of our ancient ecclesias- 
 tical structures, the ailes being wide in proportion to the 
 width of the nave, and the transept unusually narrow. 
 In consequence of this, the base of the tower forms an 
 oblong square, the dimensions of which, from north to 
 south, are upwards of one-fourth more than from east to 
 west. The choir, also, in comparison with the nave, is 
 unusually long ; and it is remarkable that the choir ailes 
 are carried further eastward than the choir itself. Not- 
 withstanding these deviations from the general arrange- 
 ment of our conventual and cathedral edifices, its design 
 is evidently contrived with great scientific and geo- 
 metrical skill ; the walls and supporting piers occupying 
 but a very small part of the entire site, when compared 
 with the extent of the space covered, as will be seen by 
 the following calculations : — The whole building stands 
 
 * " Worthies of England," vol. ii. p. 277. + Ibid. p. 278. 
 
 t " Thermae Redivivse," vide Guidott's " Treatises," p. 415. 1725. 
 || " Description of Bath," vol. ii. p. 310. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH BY WOOD. 75 
 
 on 20,032 square feet, of which the points of support 
 include about 4,500 square feet ; consequently, the pro- 
 portion of the latter to the former is 0.224. 
 
 The rise of ground has been so considerable round 
 the walls that much of the basement is buried ; from 
 which circumstance, the true proportions of the Church 
 cannot be justly appreciated. The entrance from the 
 west is by a descent of three steps to the pavement ; 
 beneath which, at the depth of about six or seven feet, 
 parts of an older floor, with base mouldings, &c, are 
 discovered. On the outside, the present level is nearly 
 nine feet above the plinth of the walls. 
 
 In the description of this Church given by Wood, he 
 compares its plan and measurements to those of the most 
 ancient structures of the Jews ; and affirms that " the 
 whole edifice is really and truly an Egyptian hall of the 
 Dorick order, sustaining the Corinthian, turned into the 
 figure of a Cross, under Got hick dress." These ideas 
 have been expanded, and a more particular account of 
 the building entered into, in a Manuscript description, of 
 which the following is a copy, but the writer of which 
 has not been traced ; although it is probable that Wood 
 himself was the person — his opinions and measurements, 
 and in some instances his very words, being adopted 
 from the printed statement*. 
 
 " The proportions of the Abbey Church of Bath 
 shew very plainly that the founder of it was well ac- 
 quainted with both the profane and sacred architecture 
 of the ancients. The Church is truly an Egyptian hall, 
 and from the intercolumniation and heights of the pillars, 
 we may conclude it to be of the Doric order, sustaining 
 the Ionic ; but this hall is turned, as an emblem of 
 
 * Vide " Description of Bath," vol. ii. pp. 309, 310. 
 
76 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 religion, into the shape of a cross, under a Gothic dress, 
 and bears all the proportion of Noah's Ark, of Solomon's 
 Temple, and of the Tabernacle : for instance, the nave 
 within, being 211 feet long, by 35 feet broad to the 
 centres of the pillars, and the arms of the cross, that 
 extends from north to south, being 120 feet long by 20 
 feet broad, both form an area of six squares in length, 
 which is the proportion of Noahs Ark. Again : the 
 whole Church, from east to west, is formed upon a triple 
 square nearly, being 225 feet long and about 80 feet 
 broad ; but if we take the foot of the cross, we shall 
 find it to be exactly a triple square, which was the pro- 
 portion of Solomon's Temple. If we take the head of 
 the cross, we shall find it to be formed on an area of two 
 squares and an half, the proportion Moses gave to the 
 Tabernacle ; and the proportion of the Sanctum Sanc- 
 torum of the Jewish temple is preserved in each arm of 
 the cross. The standard of the cross is composed of a 
 nave and two isles, the exact form of an Egyptian hall ; 
 the pillars that separate the nave from the isles being 
 4 feet diameter, and 16 feet asunder, preserve the in- 
 tercolumniation the Greeks called Areostyle ; and the 
 whole height of the Church being nearly 80 feet, pre- 
 serves the rule the ancients always observed of elevating 
 two orders of equal altitude upon each other. The sides 
 of that part of the Egyptian hall which form the foot of 
 the cross is hexastyle, and the sides of that part which 
 form the head of the cross, tetrastyle. In the Church 
 are fifty- two windows, thus placed : one large one in 
 each centre of the east and west fronts, and one large 
 one in each end of the arms of the cross, on each of 
 which the other windows were disposed in equal num- 
 bers ; eight windows in two ranges fronting the east, the 
 like number fronting the west ; sixteen windows in two 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. 77 
 
 ranges fronting the north, and the like number fronting 
 the south ; so that each end of the Church contains five 
 windows in a row, including that which makes the 
 central aperture, and each side contains nine of the like 
 openings. Seven doors were originally made for entrance 
 into the Church, and if we examine the pillars in the 
 Church, we shall find four great ones supporting the 
 tower, and six smaller ones on each side the Egyptian 
 hall : thus, while the four large pillars pointed out the 
 four great divisions in the year, the twelve smaller ones 
 were emblematical of the twelve months ; and as the 
 doors shew the days of the week, so the windows mark 
 out the weeks in the year. The centre of the west 
 front, on which is represented the good Bishop's Dream*, 
 is composed of a large window between two octagon 
 towers ; under the window is the door, or principal 
 entrance into the Church ; on each side the door is a 
 niche, one holding the figure of St. Peter, the other that 
 of St. Paul : over the door is a niche in which formerly 
 was the figure of our Saviour : near the top of the 
 window, on one of the munions, is the figure of a Dove ; 
 and at the top of the Church, in a grand niche, was a 
 figure, made to represent God the Father : the spandrels, 
 or spaces above the window, are filled up with small 
 figures representing the Cherubim and Seraphim : on the 
 front of each of the octagon towers is the representation 
 of a ladder, with Angels ascending and descending, and 
 
 * " The building of this Church," says Wood, " in the manner we 
 now see it, would cost in these days full 30,000/., and therefore, how 
 light soever some people may make of dreams, it is nevertheless certain 
 that Saint Peter's Church at Bath has testified, for near 250 years back, 
 and is like to do the same for many centuries to come, that something 
 very material hath come from a dream." " Description of Bath," vol. ii. 
 p. 311. 
 
78 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 at the loot, a Man asleep under an Olive tree ; and on 
 the collateral sides of the towers are niches which hold 
 statues of the Twelve Apostles : the wings of the front 
 are no more than the ends of the isles ; but the whole 
 front, exclusive of the ornaments, which greatly enrich 
 it, is agreeable and pleasing, being formed upon the 
 proportion of an equilateral triangle. Though the west 
 front is so deservedly admired, I cannot help here ob- 
 serving what has generally passed ulcnoticed ; and that 
 is, the window of the east front, which is about 20 feet 
 wide and 50 feet high, the top of it is not arched, as in 
 other windows, but quite strait, and shews the great 
 skill and knowledge the builders in those days had in 
 mechanics, to what our modern builders can boast of. 
 The head of the cross, with the isles on each side of it, 
 were originally intended to be arched likewise ; but the 
 death of Prince Arthur made the Bishop in such a hurry 
 to compleat the Church, that he only put a timber roof 
 on those parts. The buttresses of the Church are well 
 worth observation ; they consist of a strait line, and the 
 curve of a parabola, both springing from the same base, 
 which is the outward wall of the isles : the curve of the 
 parabola abuts against the springing of the arch of the 
 roof, and thereby prevents the roof from spreading ; 
 the strait line, which is the tangent to the parabola, lies 
 against the top of the wall of the Church, which is level 
 with the crown of the arch, and thereby keeps the whole 
 building steady, and the centre of gravity in its proper 
 place — a remarkable instance of the judgment of the 
 builders. This was the state in which the Church was 
 left by Bishop King, and before it was demolished by 
 the King's commissioners." 
 
 The principal Architectural Characteristics of the 
 Abbey Church are exhibited by the accompanying 
 
tihie'aibibiet damns- 
 
GROUND PLAN OF THE CHURCH. 79 
 
 Prints. Aided by these, it is hoped that the following 
 description will be fully understood : and it will be 
 unnecessary to employ the language either of praise or 
 censure, in noticing the various divisions of this edifice. 
 On subjects of taste and of scientific art, it is but seldom 
 that the conclusions of a writer have any influence on 
 the judgment of professional and critical readers, who 
 generally decide from their own experience and pre- 
 conceived opinions. 
 
 Plate I. — Ground Plan of the Church. This defines 
 the horizontal form, arrangement, and proportions of the 
 building. By this it will be seen to consist of a nave, d, 
 with two corresponding ailes, e, f ; three entrances at 
 the west end, a, b, c ; four clustered columns on each 
 side of the nave, with large windows, of five lights each, 
 occupying the whole space between the piers in the ailes. 
 A narrow transept, h i, with three windows in the lower 
 part of each, intersects the Church from north to south, 
 and separates the nave from the choir, k . The latter, with 
 two corresponding ailes, l, m, east of the transept, con- 
 stitute the remainder of the Church. It is shewn that 
 each of these ailes has three windows, corresponding 
 with those of the nave, and that the ailes are divided from 
 the choir by two clustered columns, and three arches on 
 each side. At the east end of the ailes are two door- 
 ways, i, j, and two circular staircases, g, h. At f, is a 
 chantry chapel, raised to the memory of Prior Birde. 
 At m, is a small extraneous building, used as the Vestry, 
 which is situated in the parish of St. James. Adjoining 
 its door, 1, is an old mural tomb to John Bellingham, 1577. 
 Near the west end of the south aile, at a, the window 
 has been closed up, a private house abutting against the 
 wall. At b, c, are staircases, through the western tur- 
 rets, to the roofs of the ailes and nave. At d, is Bishop 
 
80 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Montagues monument ; e, a large monumental sarco- 
 phagus to Thomas and Margaret Litchfield, the former 
 of whom was Lutanist to Queen Elizabeth : behind this 
 monument is an old doorway, closed up ; k, a large 
 altar-tomb, with canopy, pillars, and statues, commemo- 
 rative of Lady Waller, wife of Sir William Waller. At 
 p, is an ancient doorway, now closed up, called the 
 Prior's entrance. 
 
 It will be seen from the Plan that the grohied vault- 
 ing of the eastern part of the Church is extremely dif- 
 ferent from the coved ceiling of the nave ; and that the 
 ornamental tracery of the latter is very plain and inarti- 
 ficial when compared with the elaborate ramifications of 
 the choir and its ailes. There is, as might indeed be 
 expected, when the different periods are considered at 
 which the various parts of the roof were executed, a 
 very considerable diversity in the design and construc- 
 tion of the vaultings. The parts eastward from the 
 transept were, most probably, completed agreeably to 
 Bishop King's original plan ; and they are very elegant. 
 In the transept, the groining is more simple, though 
 executed on the same principle of the high-pointed arch. 
 On the contrary, the arch that forms the coved ceiling of 
 the nave is elliptical, and comparatively very flat ; its 
 span being "thirty feet nine inches," and " its rise" 
 only " three feet*." Though less ornamental, however, 
 than the choir, it is contrived with great ingenuity and 
 skill ; and, as stated by Carter, " may be justly deemed 
 a master-piece of masonry}"." Its " construction," he 
 remarks, " is most singular : the several mouldings 
 which compose the tracery being the only solid work, 
 
 * Vide " Some Account of the Abbey Church of Bath," p. 8, 
 published by the Society of Antiquaries. f Ibid. 
 
GROINING OF THE VAULTINGS. 8l 
 
 while the spaces between them are cut through, but are 
 now slightly filled with lath and plaster*." Its low arch 
 springs, on each side, from an horizontal string course, or 
 cornice ; the ends of the coving abut against the walls 
 of the west front and central tower. In the middle of 
 each compartment, or severy, of this ceiling, within a 
 radiated quatrefoil, is a sculptured shield of arms, in- 
 cluding those of the city of Bath and Bishop Mon- 
 tague ; the latter being twice repeated j\ The tracery in 
 the ailes of the nave is of a debased and inelegant style. 
 Browne Willis states that the Bishop and Cardinal, 
 Adrian de Castello, who was translated from Hereford to 
 the See of Bath and Wells in October 1504, " bestowed 
 much money in vaulting the choir of Bath Church, as may 
 be seen by his arms under the Cardinal's Hat, on the roof 
 on each side of the choirf." The Cardinal's arms were 
 Argent, three Bendlets embattled and counter - em- 
 battled Gules : as appears from the title-page to his 
 work, " Hadrianus T T S. Chrisogoni S. R. E. Presb, 
 Card. Batonien. De Sermone Latino et de Modis Latine 
 Loquendi," &c, published at Basil in 1518. With this 
 agree the Manuscripts of the. late Rev. William Cole, 
 who writes thus : " Over y e great west window twice, 
 and on y e roof of y e Church in various places, are these 
 
 * Vide " Some Account of the Abbey Church of Bath," p. 8, pub- 
 lished by the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 t The arms of the City of Bath are Azure, a Saltire Quarterly quar- 
 tered, Or and Argent: those of Bishop Montague are Quarterly, 1st and 
 4th, Argent, within a Bordure Sable, three Fusils in Fess, Gules ; Moit- 
 tayue : 2d and 3d, Or, an Eagle displayed Vert, armed Gules ; 
 Monthermer. 
 
 t Vide " Survey of the Cathedrals of York, Durham," &c. vol. i. 
 p. 520. Cardinal Adrian was deprived of all his ecclesiastical dignities 
 in 1518, for conspiring against Pope Leo X. 
 
 o 
 
 ., 
 
 
82 
 
 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 arms, which I observed, being at Bath in April 1746, 
 viz. : Three Bends counter -embattale , and ensigned ivith a 
 Cardinal's Hat" He then refers them to Adrian, whom 
 he states to have been a " generous contributor to the 
 edification of the Church* ;" most probably, on the au- 
 thority of Willis, as given above ; for it does not appear 
 from any other writer that the Cardinal ever expended 
 any sums on this fabric : on the contrary, he is said to 
 have resided at Rome, and to have farmed out the 
 revenues of his See. His arms, " but without the 
 Hat, are yet visible in the centre division of the vault 
 of the choir;" and also on two shields, " among the 
 angels," in the centre compartment of the west front, 
 " but now so nearly effaced as not to be distinguishable 
 from below without a telescope," surmounted " by a 
 Cardinal's Harj\" These vestiges may intimate that the 
 vaulting of the choir and the western elevation were 
 completed during Adrian's episcopacy. " A considerable 
 portion of the arched ceiling was beautified at the cost of 
 Hugh Bayley, a famous bone-setter, parvis componere 
 
 Plate II. — Details of Groinings, 8$c. from various 
 parts of the Church. — No. 1. Groining at the north-east 
 end of the choir ; — 2. To the choir ailes ; — 3. To the 
 east side of the north transept; — 4. At the north-east 
 angle, below the tower ; — 5. Tracery of the ceiling of the 
 
 * Cole's " MS. Collections," in the British Museum, vol. xiii. 
 p. 42. a. 
 
 f Vide " Some Account of the Abbey Church," p. 7. 
 
 X Practical Treatise on the Bath Waters, &c. by J. H. Spry, Sur- 
 geon, &c. 8vo. 1822. After so many essays and treatises have ap- 
 peared on the Bath waters, we are surprised to see a new volume on the 
 same subject : but genius and science, as in the present instance, can 
 give interest and point to a " thrice told tale." 
 

WEST TRc" ' 
 
GROININGS WEST FRONT. 83 
 
 •nave ; — 6. Of the nave ailes ; — 7. Groining at the south- 
 west angle of Prior Birde's Chapel ; — 8. Shield of Birde's 
 arms, with crosier and tracery behind the same. 
 
 Plate HI. — The West Front. — The western facades 
 of the Cathedrals, and of many monastic churches, were 
 the most decorated and impressive exterior features of 
 those sacred edifices. Intended and calculated to make 
 powerful impressions on the minds of religious devotees, 
 they were adorned with niches, pinnacles, sculptures, 
 and numerous devices. The western front was the 
 chief entrance : — to this the priests and laity were first 
 introduced before entering the holy building, and here 
 the first effect was produced on the Catholic worship- 
 pers. On contemplating these gorgeous pieces of archi- 
 tectural imagery, the credulous and zealous would natu- 
 rally be led to wonder, to admire, and to adore. The 
 west end of the Church, now under notice, displays a 
 design in which architecture and sculpture are combined, 
 and in which Scriptural histories and emblems are 
 employed to excite interest and awaken religious feelings. 
 This facade may be described as consisting of a centre 
 and two wings ; the latter being constituted by the 
 western extremities of the ailes. The sculpture which is 
 spread over this front, has already been mentioned in 
 Sir John Harington's account of the Vision of Bishop 
 King (p. 48); and also in the general description (p. 76): 
 but it is requisite to add a few particulars to complete 
 the elucidation. 
 
 The staircase turrets which bound the central part of 
 this front, have square basements, but are carried up 
 octagonally from the height of the cornice of the ailes : 
 they are terminated by two ranges of pannelling, and a 
 battlement. Between them is the main entrance, the 
 great west window, and the sculptural representation of 
 
84 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 the Heavenly Choir, surmounted by an open-work pa- 
 rapet, embattled. The architrave surrounding the en- 
 trance consists of numerous mouldings, from which a 
 sub-architrave diverges, and- forms a square head over 
 the arch ; the spandrels are filled with labels, inclosing 
 wounded hearts, crowns of thorns, pierced feet and hands, 
 &c, emblems of our Saviour's crucifixion : the northern 
 spandrel is delineated in Plate VI. a. The folding-doors 
 constitute a curious example of the decorative carving of 
 James the First's time : the upper part displays an 
 heraldic mantle, surmounted by a knight's helmet and a 
 griffin's head, the crest of the Montagues. On the 
 mantle are two shields of arms ; viz. within a garter 
 the See of Bath and Wells impaling Montague, and 
 Montague only : beneath it is another shield, and on a 
 flowing label round it is inscribed Ecce quam bonum et 
 quam jucundum, etc. At the sides of the doorway are 
 canopied niches, containing large statues, now greatly 
 defaced, of St. Peter and St. Paul, the apostolic patrons 
 of this edifice. The inscriptions which were formerly 
 on the pedestals, are nearly obliterated ; but Cole, who 
 visited this Church in the year 1746, has preserved them 
 in his MSS. in the British Museum : — 
 
 " Under y e image of St. Peter, with his keys in his 
 hand, on y e north side, is this : 
 
 Claviger Mthereus f actus de Simone Petrus. 
 
 " Under the other of St. Paul, holding a sword, is 
 this line : 
 
 Ecce Furor Sauli f actus est Conversio Pauli" 
 Beneath the pedestals are the portcullis and the union 
 rose, crowned, the badges of Henry the Seventh. The 
 figure of St. Paul, &c. is shewn in Plate VI. b. 
 
 In the centre of an enriched parapet over the great 
 western door, is a small niche, now unoccupied, but 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE LARGE WINDOW. 85 
 
 presumed to have originally contained a figure of 
 Henry VII., whose arms (crowned) and supporters are 
 sculptured at the bottom. Some traces of a defaced 
 inscription are visible on a label to the right and left of 
 this niche. 
 
 The large window is finely proportioned ; and although 
 its tracery is not particularly elaborate, it is regarded as 
 curious from a supposed connexion of the design with 
 the idea of the Trinity*. Perpendicularly, it consists of 
 three principal divisions, independently of the tracery 
 Avithin the great arch, on the centre of which are the 
 remains of a sculptured figure of a bird, probably intended 
 to represent the Holy Dove. 
 
 The whole of the space between the architrave of 
 this window and the parapet, (which is pedimental and 
 embattled,) is filled with sculpture, in bold relief, repre- 
 senting the Angelic Choir, in attitudes of adoration, 
 glorifying the Trinity ; which was typified by a statue 
 of God the Father, seated within a canopied niche in 
 the centre, and most probably sustaining the image of 
 the Saviour, — as delineated in Catholic missals, and still 
 frequently to be seen in ecclesiastical sculptures. The 
 statue remains, but the hands have been broken off, and 
 other parts damaged : the head, which is that of a 
 venerable bearded figure, still exhibits traces of a fine 
 
 * In the account published by the Society of Antiquaries, the window 
 is thus described : — " The west window is of extreme richness : it con- 
 sists of two sub-arches, and a large division between them, each sub-arch 
 having three divisions, which are likewise seen in the heads of the sub- 
 arches ; the spandrels between the heads and the large division in the 
 centre have each three divisions : the heights, from the bottom of the 
 window to the springing of the arch, have also three divisions: in the 
 heads of the sub-arch are three divisions, and the large division in the 
 centre has also three divisions." — p. 7. 
 
86 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 character. The feet rest on a bracket; below which 
 are two shields, charged with the arms of the See, sur- 
 mounted by a dragon and a greyhound, (the supporters 
 of Henry the Seventh*,) sustaining a rose, crowned. 
 The ascending and descending angels, which are sculp- 
 tured on the rounds of the ladders in front of the stair- 
 case turrets, are much mutilated ; as are also the figures, 
 apparently of shepherds, on the undulating ground on 
 which the ladders stand : over the shepherds are in- 
 scribed labels, now unintelligible^. The character and 
 appearance of these sculptures will be seen on referring 
 to Plate VI. c. At the top of each ladder is a defaced 
 demi-figure, that on the northern side probably in- 
 tended to typify Heaven, and that on the south Hell: at 
 least the latter displays two eyes, with an open mouth 
 and large teeth, resembling some of the representations, 
 in old designs, of the mouth of the infernal regions : see 
 Plate VI. d. On the cants of the turrets, on each side 
 the ladders, are statues of the Twelve Apostles in three 
 tiers, standing on pedestals, with small arched canopies 
 over them : these figures, though greatly mutilated, have 
 an appearance of good sculpture. 
 
 On each buttress, near the extremities of the ailes, 
 is a piece of sculpture, (see Plate VI. e,) allusive to 
 the name and vision of Bishop King, viz. the Olive 
 springing through a jegal crown, and surmounted by 
 a mitre. Beneath are two mutilated animals : below 
 which is an expanded roll. On this are traces of the 
 
 * This monarch was anxious to be regarded as a descendant of Cad- 
 wallader, the last king of the Britons, whose ensign was the red dragon. 
 The greyhound was an ancient supporter of the arms of the house of 
 Beaufort, from which Henry traced his maternal descent. 
 
 t It was .probably on these labels that the words, Dc sursum est, 
 mentioned by Sir John Harington, were inscribed. 
 

 
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EAST END — DETAILS.' 87 
 
 text, from the parable of the trees choosing a king, as 
 inserted in page 49. 
 
 The doorways to the ailes are in unison with the 
 centre entrance, and the enrichments are similar, though 
 less elaborate. Over each is a low-pointed arched 
 window, divided, horizontally, into four principal lights, 
 by mullions branching into handsome tracery. Both 
 the centre mullions are ornamented by a human figure 
 standing on a pedestal under an enriched canopy, (vide 
 Plate VI. / and g) : that on the northern side is in 
 flowing drapery, and appears to hold an open deed with 
 seals appendant : that on the south, which was probably 
 meant for a king, seems to be holding a pouch, or money- 
 bag. On each pedestal, is a shield of arms. Above the 
 northern window is the inscription, ©fJttUlS Intel ; and 
 over the other, Domttd JH'Olu'd (an abbreviation for 
 Orationis), in black letter. At the sides are vacant 
 brackets. A cornice, with an embattled and pierced 
 parapet, (both raking pedimentally,) terminate the sum- 
 mit of each aile. 
 
 Plate IV. — View front the South-east. — This displays 
 the chief architectural features of the southern side of 
 the Church ; particularly the windows of the aile and 
 clerestory — the flying buttresses of the choir — the 
 vestry — the south and east sides of the tower — the 
 lofty and narrow southern transept, and the aile and 
 clerestory of the nave. This view, represents the Church 
 as it would be seen, from a certain point, if the houses 
 were removed from the south side of the nave. 
 
 Plate V. — East End. — There are several peculiar 
 features in the design of this front, of which the plain 
 horizontal terminations of the ailes, the square forms of 
 the, turrets, which exhibit two ranges of pannelling of 
 the character of Henry the Seventh's time, and the flat 
 
88 BATH ABBEY CHURCH, 
 
 head of the great window, may be pointed out as the 
 most particular. In its general plan, the latter is similar 
 to the great west window, but it consists of an additional 
 tier of lights ; and the jambs are carried up to a level 
 with the crown of the arch, the spandrels being pierced 
 into circular openings, glazed with stained glass. Similar 
 trefoil-arched heads ornament the buttresses as those at 
 the west end. In the spandrel to the doorway of the 
 north aile is a shield, charged with a fleur-de-lis, and 
 the initials J. F. for Jeffrey Flower, gent. ; at whose 
 cost the new wall here, with the doorway, and the 
 window over it, were built. An inscription on the 
 buttress of the north-east corner, states, that the two 
 buttresses were repaired at the " cost of Francis Allen, 
 sometime clothier of this cittye, 1616." 
 
 Plate VI. — Details from different parts of the 
 Church.- — All the parts referred to from a to g have 
 already been described : h is a small ornamental recess 
 at the end of the south transept, which Carter, in the 
 " Account" published by the Society of Antiquaries, 
 has called an almonry : it is more likely, however, to 
 have been a piscina, as both its situation and form are 
 perfectly suitable for the latter, — should there have 
 been, as there probably was, a chantry here, with the 
 altar, as usual, to the east : in Carter's print the pannels 
 over the recess are omitted. — i and j are parts of Prior 
 Birde's chapel, which will be described under Plates IX. 
 and X. : h is a demi-angel supporting a shield of Edward 
 the Confessor's arms, which is sculptured at the springing 
 of the groining at the east end of the choir, on the north 
 side. There are four similar sculptures on each side of 
 the groining, within the lower pannels. 
 
 Plate VII. — Interior of the Nave, looking east, 
 divested of monuments.' — This view shews the forms 
 
• 
 
 
 

 Enariimd by W Smith -frm aDrjwuui bvFMiukai&e fir firmcw JUnsrj kc — it"j9jM..' 
 
 ,'LiRJ) WARNER Author 
 
 Ihi.. 
 
 />Vli<J Ayh*y**rJ 
 
INTERIOR ELEVATIONS. 89 
 
 of the main piers and arches, the clerestory windows, 
 the groining, tire great arches of the tower, &c, together 
 with the distant parts of the choir. At its eastern ex- 
 tremity, the nave is crossed by a glazed screen and 
 organ gallery. 
 
 Plate VIII. — Vieiv across the Nave, looking south- 
 west. — In this delineation the artist has endeavoured to 
 portray the effect of the descending sun, when its re- 
 fulgent rays are streaming through the western windows. 
 The forms of the great piers are distinctly shewn : they 
 stand diagonally, (the mouldings of the arches being 
 continued to the bases,) and at the angles, which are 
 canted off, are small three-quarter columns. The arch- 
 way seen in the distance, formed what is still called the 
 Priors Entrance, but it has long been closed up. The 
 very crowded state of the monuments may be readily 
 comprehended from this view ; the piers and walls of the 
 whole Church being similarly loaded with sepulchral 
 memorials. Under the second arch in the north aile, 
 as represented in the print, but in reality the fourth 
 from the west end, is the monument of Bishop Mon- 
 tague, which is composed of an insulated tomb, (on 
 which lies the good prelate's effigy,) surrounded with 
 iron railing, and flanked by Corinthian columns, sup- 
 porting entablatures, shields of arms, &c, in the costly 
 style of James the First's time. The forms of the 
 tracery in the ailes of the nave are shewn in this en- 
 graving. 
 
 Plate IX. — Interior Elevations. — A, is the first 
 compartment from the east on the south side of the 
 choir ; including the screen of the chapel of Prior 
 Birde, which is represented as in a perfect state : B, 
 is the south side of the central tower ; and C, is the 
 
90 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 compartment of the nave at the west end, with a section 
 of the window. The forms of the plinths, sub-plinths, 
 and bases of the columns ; the manner in which the 
 mouldings rise and form the architraves ; the way in 
 which the astragals or bands, (which constitute so many 
 capitals,) are composed by the small horizontal mould- 
 ings at the springing of the arches ; the springing of the 
 groins, and the construction of the roof, — are all exhi- 
 bited in these elevations. 
 
 The monumental Chapel of Prior Birde is situated 
 on the south side of the choir near the altar. The greater 
 part of its northern screen has been very reprehensibly 
 destroyed, to make room for " the clumsy, mis-shapen 
 wooden seat called the Bishop's throne*." The south 
 side consists, longitudinally, of two divisions, rising from 
 a basement ornamented with quatrefoils in pannels, and 
 being separated by octangular buttresses ; these, in the 
 upright, are divided into four compartments of small 
 pannelled arches, and their capitals unite with the 
 entablature which surrounds the whole. The work 
 above the entablature has been cut away, to make 
 room for a gallery : its fascia is sculptured with running 
 vine-branches, in bold relief. The divisions between 
 the buttresses are composed of two flattened arches, 
 with three mullions and tracery, and having a plinth of 
 several mouldings, and a dado of enriched radiated 
 quatrefoils, in pannels, with an open flower, or rosette, 
 in the centre of each. In the spandrels is a variety of 
 finely wrought foliage, including birds and, apparently, 
 the figure of a Sagittarius ; but the sculpture being much 
 obscured, this cannot be determined with certainty. At 
 
 * Warner's " History of Bath," p. 250. 
 
birde's chantry. 91 
 
 the north-west angle are two angular niches, one above 
 the other, having duplex canopies crowned with pin- 
 nacles. At the exterior angle of the north-west corner, 
 is a double pannel crowned with an ogee arch-moulding, 
 with crockets, from which springs one of the angular 
 groins. Plate VI. j. 
 
 A part of the south side of this Chapel is repre- 
 sented in the Title Page, Plate X., in its present state 
 of dilapidation. There were two sub-arches in each 
 division, together with an enriched transom. The 
 small openings in the head of the principal arch are 
 sharply and elegantly pierced. The figure presumed 
 to be a Sagittarius, appears amidst the foliage in the 
 spandrel which fronts the right hand. The spandrels on 
 the north side do not appear to have been completed : 
 that shewn in Plate VI. i, seems to have included the 
 figure of an angel, and a money-bag, with surrounding 
 labels and foliage. 
 
 The chantry chapel thus noticed must have been 
 originally a most interesting specimen of architectural 
 design. Both externally and internally the whole was 
 adorned with pannelling, roses, niches, pedestals, and 
 varied sculpture. It consisted of a stone screen, filling 
 up the space between two columnar piers on the south 
 side of the choir, and was formerly provided with an 
 altar at the east end, and a piscina. There were pro- 
 bably two doors of entrance ; one from the choir, the 
 other from the south aile. One of them remains, but 
 the other, as well as nearly the whole of the northern 
 screen, is destroyed. The tracery of the roof consists 
 of four compartments of fan-shaped tracery, diverging 
 from the sides, and spreading over the surface ; at 
 the eastern end, over the altar-place, are five pannels, 
 
92 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 charged with lozenge- shaped tracery : the central pan- 
 nel is adorned with a shield, bearing the Prior's arms, 
 surmounted by a mitre, as represented in Plate II. 
 No. 8. 
 
 The lamentable state to which this interesting and 
 beautiful chantry is reduced, cannot but excite regret, 
 and even some degree of indignation. Besides having 
 one side broken away, the remainder of the pannelling 
 and sculpture is partly filled up, and obscured by 
 repeated coats of whitewash*: the whole interior is 
 filled with modern pews, and other parts are cut 
 into, and injured by monumental slabs affixed to the 
 surface. 
 
 In reviewing the Choir of the Church, we find that 
 modern alterations, and adaptations to accommodate a 
 crowded congregation, have been made, without any 
 regard to harmony of style, to form, or to colour. The 
 whole area is filled with common, irregular pews, and 
 the arches on each side are blocked up by galleries, 
 with boarded backs, glazed doors, &c. At the west 
 end, beneath the lofty arches of the tower, is an organ- 
 gallery ; which, with the organ-case, are extremely 
 
 * The common and vulgar practice of white-washing and yellow- 
 washing Churches cannot be sufficiently regretted, nor can it be too 
 much reprobated. However cleanly and carefully executed, it becomes 
 offensive to the eye, and incompatible with all the canons of taste ; but 
 the usual process of smearing coat on coat, and that frequently very 
 thick, destroys all the beauties of sculpture and all the rich varieties 
 of surface. The fascinating effects of light, shadow, and relief, which 
 the skilful architects intended to produce, are thus counteracted ; 
 and forms that were originally graceful and beautiful, are rendered 
 flat, stale, and insipid. It is as bad as clothing the Venus de Medicis 
 in a loose smock-frock, or the Apollo Belvidere in a coachman's 
 box-coat. 
 
M0RTUARV REMARKS. 93 
 
 inappropriate and tasteless. The whole is supported by 
 common pillars, and the ends inserted in the piers of the 
 tower. The altar-piece, or fittings up behind the altar, 
 affect something of architectural character, and were 
 certainly intended to be adornments to the place. A 
 considerable mass of marble, formed into columns, 
 with entablature, pediment, &c, is employed ; and 
 doubtless designed to imitate Roman, not ecclesiastical 
 architecture, and therefore has no analogy to the win- 
 dow above, or the arches at the sides. Had the screen of 
 the contiguous chapel been taken as a pattern, and imi- 
 tated in the fitting up of the altar, and for the com- 
 munion rails, something beautiful and harmonious would 
 have been produced. Attached to the piers, and against 
 the walls at the eastern end of the choir, are various 
 monuments ; and the pavement is almost wholly formed 
 of inscribed slabs. 
 
 The epigrammatic distich of the late Dr. Harington 
 cannot fail to be remembered on viewing the numerous 
 sepulchral memorials in this Church : 
 
 " These walls, adorned with monument and bust, 
 Shew how Bath waters serve to lay the dust." — 
 
 This remark was not, however, dictated by a repre- 
 hensible levity, but by that playfulness of imagination 
 which marked the character of the amiable writer. 
 True wit, influenced by benevolent sentiment, conse- 
 crates every thing on which it is employed. Serious 
 and even melancholy subjects it renders pleasing, or 
 at least it diverts the mind from an irrational tendency 
 
94 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 of dwelling on irremediable events. Death is the inevit- 
 able termination of all living beings, — it is as natural 
 and certain as for day and night to succeed each other. 
 None but the coward and the conscious sinner should 
 dread to die. " The Soldier," says Trim, " never fears 
 death in battle" — the true Christian and the sound 
 Philosopher disregard him every where. All nature, 
 and all the institutions of man, point to this " moral 
 tale*." 
 
 * Fanaticism induces melancholy, misery, worldly abstraction ; but 
 man is not naturally constituted for either: — he is endowed with mind, 
 and social adaptations to the world, — to its varieties and to its pleasures. 
 He is one link in the chain of concord ; and, by fulfilling his duty, he 
 promotes all the friendly relations of life. Man may be generally good 
 and happy, and thereby contribute to the happiness of others. It is 
 easier to be virtuous than to be vicious ; and whilst virtue ever wears a 
 cheerful countenance, vice is either haunted by a guilty conscience, or 
 visited by positive or anticipated sorrow. Hervey has written " Medita- 
 tions among the Tombs," in a tone of solemn and doleful lamentation. 
 Young penned his " Night Thoughts" with more sublime imagery, and 
 a better feeling of philosophy ; but with too lachrymose an eye towards 
 worldly enjoyments. The amiable Addison says — " If I wish to indulge 
 melancholy, or to be made wiser and better than I am, I wander among 
 the tombs of Westminster Abbey." If that place be calculated to pro- 
 duce such effects, the Abbey Church of Bath is equally admonitory; for 
 it is the mortuary repository of many hundreds of our species. Persons 
 of all countries and climes, — of all professions and ages, — of different 
 sects and conditions, are here entombed in a small space ; and their 
 ashes mingle, perhaps, with the heathenised Romans, Saxons, and 
 Danes. What an awful, and what a grand theme for meditation ! It 
 ouo-ht to make us wiser and better, by impelling us to correct our follies 
 and subdue our vices. But 1 would recommend a contrary doctrine to 
 that of Addison, by saying, " abstain from" rather than " indulge in 
 melancholy :" to cherish this morbid feeling must unnerve the frame and 
 disorder the faculties. The Christian church, abounding with numerous 
 monumental records, is calculated to awaken grand, sublime, soothing, 
 and even harmonising reflections. It shews us that, though life is pre- 
 
MORTUARY REMARKS. 95 
 
 Perhaps there is not a Church in England, not 
 excepting that national mausoleum, Westminster Abbey, 
 
 carious, and death certain, many have attained dignified and happy old 
 age; — have acquired honours, fame, and riches; — have secured the 
 esteem of relations and friends, and thereby deserved the praise of 
 posterity. In such a place, surrounded by such mementos, 1 could 
 meditate on God and man without one emotion of melancholy, — 
 without one sentiment of misery. The omnipotent and inscrutable laws 
 of Providence would naturally press on the mind : but instead of in- 
 ducing sorrow and misery, they would carry the thoughts from terrestrial 
 to celestial objects. In contemplating the bust of the poet, the trophy 
 of the hero, the tablet of the musician, and the urn of the philosopher, 
 I could find abundant scope for reflection, and sources of delight ; for 
 they all indicate the extent and energies of the mental character, and 
 point out the elevated rank to which we may attain by the judicious 
 exertion of our faculties, and in perfect accordance with every law 
 which a benignant Deity has enjoined for our conduct in this transitory 
 scene of our earthly pilgrimage. — I must, however, check the pen, for 
 my province here is information, not disquisition. The subject must be 
 my apology ; but I trust that these reflections will neither be deemed in- 
 apposite nor irrelevant. 
 
 The King's admonition to Hamlet, in Shakspeare's incomparable 
 drama, is in accordance with these reflections, and with the subject. 
 
 " To persevere 
 
 In obstinate condolement is a course 
 Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief: 
 It shews a will most incorrect to Heaven ; 
 A heart unfortified, or mind impatient ; 
 An understanding simple and unschool'd: 
 For what we know must be, and is as common 
 As any the most vulgar thing to sense, 
 Why should wc, in our peevish opposition, 
 Take it to heart ? Fie ! 'tis a fault to Heaven, 
 A fault against the dead, a fault to nature : 
 To reason most absurd, whose common theme 
 Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried 
 From the first corse 'till he that died to-day, 
 This must be so." 
 
96 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 so crowded with sepulchral memorials as the sacred 
 edifice now under notice. Besides the floor being nearly 
 paved with slabs, there are at least 450 tablets, &c, 
 of all descriptions, affixed to the side walls and pillars 
 of the building. Nearly the whole interior surface of 
 the walls, floor, and columns, is lined or covered with 
 slabs and tablets, of all sizes, forms, colours, and 
 materials. Brass, copper, stone, slate, marble, and 
 wood, are distributed over the surface, to attract 
 the eye of the visitor. From their number and 
 diversified forms and colours, they may be said to 
 counteract the destined purpose of each, — sympathy 
 and awe. Instead of solemnity and repose, they pro- 
 duce fritter and confusion. The eye cannot rest, 
 nor can the mind be serene, where such distraction 
 and incongruousness prevail. Here is neither order 
 nor symmetry ; nor has there been any attempt at 
 systematic arrangement. In excuse it may be said 
 that it would be impracticable, if not impossible, to 
 remedy such a defect, where the fancies of so many 
 persons are allowed to prevail. The beginning of the 
 evil is not of the present day or present age ; and few 
 have the courage and good taste to commence a reform, 
 where so much is to be undone, as well as done. 
 
 Although these remarks are applied immediately to 
 the Church under notice, they are alike applicable to 
 Westminster Abbey, to St. Paul's Cathedral, and to 
 many other ancient and modern fabrics. If " Com- 
 mittees of Taste " be officially or voluntarily organised, 
 they should give proofs of taste in the choice of situa- 
 tions, as well as choice of subjects, for interior monu- 
 ments. In passing through the metropolitan churches 
 already named, as well as that at Bath, every person 
 of sensibility and real taste must be more offended than 
 
REMARKS ON MONUMENTS. 97 
 
 delighted. Monstrous masses of marble, with broken- 
 backed horses, rampant and tame lions, figures of Time, 
 Fame, Angels, and Cherubim, are the component parts 
 of most of the great monuments ; whilst weeping Cupids, 
 inverted torches, and urns ad infinitum, are the prevailing 
 characteristics of the smaller tablets. It is high time 
 that this common-place mode of sculpture was aban- 
 doned ; and it is equally to be wished that the inappro- 
 priate and absurd practice of clothing British generals 
 and statesmen in Roman togas was avoided. One 
 English sculptor at least has manifested a more English 
 feeling and a better taste ; and I have no doubt that his 
 success will lead to reformation. 
 
 The custom of interring bodies within churches is 
 much to be deplored. It is not only injurious to the 
 stability of buildings, but is repugnant to all the finer 
 feelings of our nature. Can any thing be more un- 
 pleasant than a knowledge that the whole earth, or 
 ground, beneath the flooring of a church, consists of 
 human remains ? — I must, however, forbear to express 
 my feelings on this subject ; for they would create un- 
 happiness or horror in the minds of those who are unac- 
 customed to similar contemplations. Whilst we are 
 eager to imitate the follies and fashions of our Parisian 
 neighbours, it would be creditable to us to adopt their 
 practice of having spacious cemeteries on the outside of 
 the city ; and instead of storing up the putrid remains of 
 the dead in edifices where the living congregate, to inter 
 them in more distant places. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPI- 
 TAPHS, WITH EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS CLASSES FROM THE 
 ABBEY CHURCH OF BATH, BY THE LATE REV. J. J. CONY- 
 BEARE, A.M. 
 
 The custom of perpetuating the memory of the dead 
 by some monument more durable than the fleeting and 
 uncertain breath of tradition, as it appears to be founded 
 in the most natural affections of our species, may every 
 where be traced to the earliest periods of society. 
 
 The veneration of the Scythian for the tombs of his 
 ancestors, and the expectation of the Homeric heroes that 
 their sepulchral barrows should remain conspicuous to 
 after-ages, must be " rife in our school-boy memories," 
 while the innumerable monuments of the latter descrip- 
 tion, scattered over the face of almost every country with 
 which we are acquainted, and forming especially so 
 prominent a feature among the antiquities of our own, 
 bear the strongest testimony to the universality of the 
 sentiments which produced their erection. Before the 
 invention, or at least before the general use of letters, 
 the principal means of insuring the great object of these 
 structures was to be looked for in their extent and 
 solidity. 
 
 The art of writing promised at once to reduce the 
 expenditure of time and labour necessary for their forma- 
 tion ; and to confer, even upon the humblest individual, 
 a memorial, more lasting perhaps than coidd have been 
 expected in ruder ages for the most powerful and illus- 
 
ORIGIN AXD CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 99 
 
 trious. It is yet remarkable that the earliest use made 
 of written characters in monumental inscriptions, does 
 not appear to have been that which we should conceive 
 to be the most natural and obvious. Those sepulchral 
 vases which are supposed to be of the remotest antiquity, 
 whether Greek or Etruscan, do indeed occasionally 
 present some traces of inscription ; but such inscription 
 is uniformly, I believe, found to refer rather to the mytho- 
 logical personages represented in the paintings on the 
 exterior, than to those for the reception of whose ashes 
 the vases were destined. A few bassi-relievi, however, 
 of an -age, it is conjectured, somewhat earlier than that 
 of Pericles, and which appear to have answered the pur- 
 pose of sepulchral monuments, bear the names of indi- 
 viduals ; and Thucydides (lib. vi.) has preserved four 
 elegiac lines, which were probably inscribed on the tomb 
 of Archidice, the sister of Hippias. The earlier of the 
 Greek epitaphs seem to have been chiefly of this latter 
 description * : and the Romans in this, as in every other 
 department of art and literature, followed their examplef. 
 In later ages, indeed, they appear to have adopted more 
 frequently for this purpose that concise and peculiar style 
 of prose which has been denominated by critics the Lapi- 
 dary style J. After the decline of letters, we meet with 
 but few, if any, examples of the prose epitaph. The 
 Leonine, or rhyming Latin verse, was, during the Middle 
 
 • Many will be found in the Anthologia. They have been published 
 separately by Leichius, " Carmina Gnrcorum Sepulchralia." 4to. 
 
 f The epitaphs of Ennius and Nocvius are well known. The " In- 
 scriptionum Rom. Met. Delectus" of the late T. Warton, will furnish 
 examples of the most ancient and beautiful poems of this kind. 
 
 t It is needless to adduce examples of this style ; they occur in every 
 page of Gruter's Collection. 
 
1-00 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Ages, the favourite vehicle for the commemoration and 
 praises of the deceased. 
 
 The revival of classical learning in Italy, produced, 
 naturally, a recurrence to classical models ; and the 
 imitation was frequently so close, that inscriptions are 
 not wanting of which it is difficult to pronounce, whether 
 they are the genuine productions of Roman antiquity, or 
 the forgeries of the fifteenth century. In more recent 
 times, a third species of epitaph, unknown, it is appre- 
 hended, to the ancients, appears to have had its origin, 
 either in the difficulty of imitating, or the ambition of 
 improving and ornamenting, the terse and simple con- 
 struction of the Lapidary style. For this, which (as 
 from its copiousness and diffuseness it bears the character 
 of a funeral eulogy or oration) might fairly be termed the 
 Rhetorical epitaph, we are chiefly, I suspect, indebted to 
 the French * ; and like many other inventions of that 
 fanciful people, it long prevailed, both in Latin and in 
 the more modern languages of Europe, to the almost total 
 exclusion of the purer and more graceful models of anti- 
 quity. It has, however, in some cases, (especially within 
 the last half century,) been rendered somewhat less 
 cumbrous, by a nearer approach to those models 1f ; and, 
 
 * See the epitaphs of Crequy and of Richelieu, in Popham's " Elogia 
 Sepulchralia." In this country, the Rhetorical epitaph, as I have ventured 
 to name it, became very popular after the Restoration, and was in some 
 instances extended to a most fatiguing length. Those of South and 
 Nelson, (vide Popham, Elogia Sepulchralia,) will afford very favourable 
 specimens of that style. That of Mead is equally well written, and has 
 the merit of being considerably shorter. 
 
 + The epitaphs of Card. Mazarine, of Johnson on Goldsmith, of 
 Dr. Parr on Johnson himself, and many others of later date, may be 
 referred to this description : the chief characters of which appear to be, 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 101 
 
 in a few instances, the writers of Latin inscriptions have 
 altogether returned to the imitation of their original 
 masters*. We have now briefly traced the progress 
 and the various forms of the monumental inscription. 
 Which of those in present use is most agreeable to the 
 principles of good taste, and in what manner each may 
 be most successfully treated, are questions of which the 
 limits of a work like the present must necessarily preclude 
 all discussion. On the subject, indeed, of metrical epi- 
 taphs, little could be added to the well-known criticisms 
 of Johnson, and to the admirable observations which 
 Warton has prefixed to his Collection of Ancient Roman 
 Inscriptions. 
 
 With respect to prose epitaphs, it will perhaps be suf- 
 ficient to remark, that modern criticism appears justly 
 to have assigned the preference to those which approach 
 most nearly to the simplicity and brevity of a classical 
 model ; and to consider the lighter and more oratorical 
 graces of style as misplaced on a subject beyond all 
 others the most sacred and solemn. 
 
 The observations hitherto offered have been confined 
 chiefly to those inscriptions in which the Latin language 
 has been made the vehicle of posthumous eulogy. For 
 these their authors, whether justly or unjustly, antici- 
 
 a greater attention to conciseness, both of the whole and of the separate 
 clauses, and to purity of Latin style. 
 
 * See the epitaphs of Lipsius, of Ann. Caracci, of Craggs, and of 
 Shenstone on Maria. More might be readily added, did we possess any 
 better selection than the scanty and incorrect one by Popham. An epi- 
 taph, in the truest taste of antiquity, beautiful from its extreme sim- 
 plicity, exists in the Cathedral of Christ-Church, Oxford. 
 
 Jana 
 
 B. Blayney Filia 
 
 Ehcu ! Unica. 
 
102 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 pated (probably as they wished) a permanency that would 
 have been endangered by the adoption of any more modern 
 and variable dialect. 
 
 As this practice, however, was necessarily restricted 
 to the commemoration of persons of some rank or emi- 
 nence, and as various reasons concurred to recommend 
 the adoption of a medium more immediately, if not more 
 lastingly, intelligible, we find the walls of our churches 
 occupied, for the greater part, by inscriptions in our 
 native tongue. In the composition of these, we have 
 had greater difficulties to overcome than in the direct 
 imitation of the ancients. Our language, encumbered as 
 it is with particles, and admitting little or no inversion of 
 sentence, accommodates itself at best but indifferently to 
 the purer and more concise style of Lapidary inscriptions. 
 Hence, perhaps, it has arisen, that the more considerable 
 portion of English prose epitaphs, may be referred rather 
 to that class which has been termed Rhetorical ; and 
 that very few (in comparison with the numbers which 
 crowd the interior and exterior of our various places of 
 worship) have been found to attract the admiration of 
 critical readers. 
 
 It is the writer's intention and wish that these, and 
 all the foregoing remarks, should be considered as ap- 
 plicable to the manner only, and not to the matter and 
 .spirit of an epitaph. The discussion of these points, 
 while he confesses them to be of much higher importance, 
 he does not feel called to enter upon in a work of this 
 nature. Many epitaphs, doubtless, which contain but 
 little to attract the mere scholar, are calculated to pro- 
 duce the most unexceptionable and edifying impres- 
 sions on the mind of the Christian ; and in some un- 
 happy instances, the most unquestionable purity and 
 beauty of style have been employed for purposes which 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 103 
 
 piety must disavow, and which none but a mistaken 
 chanty could sanction. May it not fairly be added, 
 that he who examines the subject in this more serious 
 point of view, will find much reason to lament that 
 the feelings of Christian humility are not more fre- 
 quently and strongly recorded, where they might so 
 reasonably be expected, in the last memorials of human 
 frailty ? 
 
 In examining the sacred edifices of a City which has 
 afforded for so many centuries a place of constant and 
 general resort to persons of every rank and description, 
 we might reasonably expect to find the monumental in- 
 scriptions which they contain superior, both in number 
 and interest, to those which would occur, under common 
 circumstances, in any town of equal population. So 
 far, indeed, as number is concerned, the Abbey Church 
 will by no means disappoint such an anticipation : nearly 
 the whole interior of the nave and principal ailes is 
 covered with these records of mortality ; and we are 
 reminded, at every step, of the common destiny which 
 has equalised the hero, the scholar, and the philosopher, 
 with the more peaceful and unambitious children of 
 commerce and industry who repose by their side. A 
 complete collection of these memorials would far exceed 
 the proposed limits of the present account. A few, 
 therefore, of the more remarkable in each department 
 have been selected, and arranged agreeably to the order 
 sketched out in the foregoing observations. 
 
104 
 
 BATH ABBEV CHURCH. 
 
 EPITAPHS IN VERSE. 
 
 The earliest specimen of Latin verse which occurs, is 
 to be found in the epitaph of Bartholomew Barnes, 
 who died in the early part of the reign of James I. 
 The lines themselves present nothing very striking, 
 either as to poetry or Latinity. 
 
 In obitum Bartholomjei Barnes defuncti, viri verse religionis 
 amantissimi, nuper mercatoris Londinensis, nuncque coelorum regni 
 civis beati. 
 
 Religio, pietas, facundse gratia linguae, 
 
 Ingenium, virtus, inviolata fides, 
 Cum gravitate lepos, cum simplicitate venustas, 
 
 Larga manus, pectus nobile, firmus amor : 
 Denique quicquid habet natura quod addere possit,, 
 
 Addere quod possit gratia, quicquid habet. 
 Omnia Barnceum vivum comitata fuerunt, 
 
 Omnia mors atrox obruit ista simul. 
 Obruat ista licet tristi mors seeva sepulchro, 
 Attamen illorum fama superstes erit*. 
 
 The classical reader will doubtless receive greater 
 pleasure from the following lines, which appear to have 
 proceeded from the pen of the Rev. W. L. Bowles, and 
 commemorate the Rev. J. Honeywood, M.A. : — 
 
 Quae vox ex imo pervenit missa sepulchro ? 
 Desine tu conjux, sola relicta, queri. 
 
 * Sir John Harington refers to this monument, when speaking of the 
 Abbey Church, in his memoir of Bishop King. (" Nugse Antiques," vol. ii. 
 p. 143. Park's edition.) He says, " In so much as a wealthy citizen of 
 London hath adventured to set his tomb there, whom I commend more 
 worthily than the senate of Rome did thank Varro at his return from 
 Cannee, quod de salute reipublicte non desperdsset; for it seems this honest 
 citizen did not despaire of the re-edifying this church that gave order to 
 be richly entombed therein." 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 105 
 
 En anima exultans ccelo spatiatur et alte 
 
 Despicit humanas, libera, leeta, vicis. 
 Te solum fido reminiscitur anxia amore, 
 
 Et paulum fractas plorat amicitias. 
 Donee tempus erit quum nubila cuncta recedent, 
 
 Nosque iterum seterno foedere junget amor. 
 
 Would it not improve the beauty of this elegant and 
 affectionate little composition, if something less trite 
 were substituted for the present termination of the 
 seventh line ? And might it not be objected, that the 
 word amicitias is scarcely of sufficient strength to express 
 conjugal attachment ? 
 
 Among the epitaphs in English Verse, the following 
 will afford no unfavourable specimen of the monumental 
 poetry of the earlier part of the seventeenth century. 
 I know not whether the particulars to which it appears 
 to allude, are any where more circumstantially re- 
 corded. 
 
 In spe resvrrectionis hie jacet Corpvs Joiiaxxi Wally, qvonda: 
 maior hvivs civitatis : qvi obiit 4to die Aprilis. 
 
 Those blvsteringe storms, which threat the blessed peace 
 
 Of virtves sovle, nere her departvre cease, 
 
 Like mistie vapovrs which obsevre the svn, 
 
 Yet often vanish ere his covrse be done ; 
 
 True worth hath wings to beare her spotless name 
 
 Above the reach of ill begotten fame, 
 
 Witnesse the aged tenant of this tombe, 
 
 Whose harmless life was subject to the doome 
 
 Of headstrong rashness ; but since here he lay, 
 
 Error's revers'd, and trvth hath got the day : 
 
 In Heaven, kind reader, is his spirit blest, 
 
 Bless thov his name, and let his body rest. 
 
 Anno Domini 1615. 
 The epitaphs of Walter Erxele, and the Lady 
 
106 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Jane Waller have perhaps little more than their anti- 
 quity to entitle them to notice : — 
 
 Here lyeth the body of Walter Ernele, Esq. ; sonne of Michael 
 Ernele, of Burton, in the county of Wilts, esq. deceased, and of Susan, 
 the eldest daughter, and one of the coheires of Sir Walter Hunger- 
 ford, knt., of Farley-castle, in the county of Somerset, also deceased. 
 Which Walter Ernele died the 27th day of Sept. A . Dni. 1618. 
 
 An Ernele Hungerford lyeth here in grave ; 
 
 More than thy owne, O earth, thou maist not have : 
 
 His earthy part, his body, that is thine ; 
 
 His heavenly, his soule, that part divine, . 
 
 Is heaven's right ; there doth it live and raigne, 
 
 In joye and blisse for ever to remaine. 
 
 His body in her bosome earth must keepe 
 
 Till such as rest in hope shall ri.se from sleepe ; 
 
 Then body joyned with sowle for ever shall 
 
 In glory live, raigne both coelestiall. 
 
 To the deare memory of the right vertuous and worthy lady, Jane 
 Lady Waller, sole daughter and heir to Sir Richard Reynell, wife 
 to Sir Wm. Waller, knight. 
 
 Sole issue of a matchless paire, 
 Both of their state and vertucs heyre ; 
 In graces great, in stature small, 
 As full of spirit as voyd of gall ; 
 Cheerfully brave, bounteously close, 
 Holy without vain-glorious showes ; 
 Happy, and yet from envy free, 
 
 Learn'd without pride, witty, yet wise — 
 Reader, this riddle read with mee, 
 
 Here the good Lady Waller lyes. 
 
 The epitaph, or rather elegy, written by Dryden, 
 upon Mary Framptox, is well known to every reader 
 of English poetry. It exhibits much of the fancy and 
 power of expression of its great author, though some- 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 107 
 
 what alloyed by the quaintness of his age, and pos- 
 sessing more of ingenuity than of nature or feeling. 
 
 Here lies the body of Mary, third daughter of Rich. Frarnpton, 
 of Moreton, in Dorsetshire, Esq. and of Jane his wife, sole daughter 
 of Sir Francis Cottington, of Fonthill, in Wilts ; who was born 
 January the 1st, 1676-7, and dyed (after seven weeks' sickness) 
 
 on the 6th of September, 1698. This Monument was erected by 
 
 Catharine Frarnpton, her second sister and executress, in testimony 
 of her grief, affection, and gratitude. 
 
 Below this marble monument is laid 
 All that Heaven wants of this celestial mayd : 
 Preserve, O sacred tomb, thy trust consign'd ! 
 The mould was made on purpose for the mind ; 
 And she would lose, if at the latter day, 
 One atom could be mixed of other clay. 
 Such were the features of her heav'nly face, 
 Her limbs were formed with such harmonious grace, 
 So faultless was the frame, — as if the whole 
 Had been an emanation of the soul, 
 Which her own inward symmetry reveal'd, 
 And like a picture shone, in glass anneal'd ; 
 Or, like the sun eclips'd, with shaded light, 
 Too piercing else to be sustained by sight. 
 
 Each thought was visible that roll'd within, — 
 As through a chrystal case the figur'd hours are seen : 
 And Heaven did this transparent veil provide, 
 Because she had no guilty thought to hide. 
 All white, a virgin saint, she sought the skies — 
 For marriage, though it sullies not — it dies ! 
 High though her wit, yet humble was her mind, 
 As if she cou'd not, or she wou'd not, find 
 How much her worth transcended all her kind. 
 Yet she had learn'd so much of heaven, below, 
 That when arriv'd, she scarce had more to know ; 
 But only to refresh the former hint, 
 And read her Maker in a fairer print ! 
 So pious ! as she had no time to spare 
 For human thoughts, — but seem'd confiu'd to prayer ; 
 
 I 
 
108 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Yet in such charities she pass'd the day, 
 
 'Twas wond'rous how she found an hour to pray. 
 
 A soul so calm, it knew not ebbs nor flows, 
 
 Which passion cou'd but curl — not discompose! 
 
 A female softness, with a manly mind, 
 
 A daughter duteous, and a sister kind : 
 
 In sickness patient ! and in death resign' 
 
 ern'd! J 
 
 The epitaph on Quin, by Garrick, though almost too 
 generally known to require insertion in the present work, 
 is so extremely appropriate, that not to give it might be 
 deemed negligence. 
 
 That tongue which set the table in a roar, 
 And charm'd the publick ear, is heard no more; 
 Clos'd are those eyes, the harbingers of wit, 
 Which spake, before the tongue, what Shakespear writ ; 
 Cold is that hand which, living, was stretch'd forth, 
 At friendship's call, to succour modest worth. 
 Here lies James Quin ! — Deign, reader, to be taught, 
 Whate'er thy strength of body, force of thought, 
 In Nature's happiest mould however cast, 
 " To this complexion thou must come at last." 
 
 D. Garrick. 
 Ob. mdcclxvi. JEtatis lxxiii. 
 
 Of recent date, the following are among the more 
 remarkable : — 
 
 Sacred to the memory of William Clements, Esq. a youth 
 distinguished by the sweetness of his manners, and the excellence of 
 his heart. Generous, humane, affectionate, his life was a source 
 of happiness to others ; his death, it is hoped, was the commence- 
 ment of his own. 
 
 Look down, blest soul, and from the realms above 
 Accept this last sad tribute of our love : 
 The last — ev'n now our sorrows we resign, 
 And lose our feelings to rejoice in thine. 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 109 
 
 In this City lived and died Sarah, second daughter of General 
 Henry Fielding; by his first wife, daughter of Judge Gould. 
 
 Whose writings will be known, 
 
 As incentives to virtue, and honour to her sex, 
 
 When this marble shall be dust. 
 
 She was born mdccxiv. and died April mdcclxviii. 
 
 Her unaffected manners, candid mind, 
 
 Her heart benevolent, and soul resign'd, 
 
 Were more her praise than all she knew or thought, 
 
 Though Athens' wisdom to her sex she taught. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. John Hoadley, her Friend, for the honour of the 
 Dead and emulation of the Living, inscribes this deficient Memo- 
 rial of her virtues and accomplishments. 
 
 Elizabeth Honeywood, 
 
 Died Feb. 9, 1812. 
 
 Mild, patient, pious, charitable, just, 
 
 Go rest in peace beside thy husband's dust. 
 
 Whilst all to whom thy memory is dear, 
 
 Bend o'er thine ashes with a silent tear. 
 
 A few short years these pensive lines they trace, 
 
 Then follow to Earth's common resting-place ; 
 
 Blest, if, like thee, to the last hour approv'd, 
 
 They live as blameless as they die belov'd. 
 
 W. L. Bowles. 
 
 The following lines, inscribed on the monument of 
 Ely Bates (the well-known author of " Rural Philo- 
 sophy" and other works of a religious and moral ten- 
 dency), are said to have been found in his own hand- 
 writing, after his decease, in 1814. 
 
 Ask not who ended here his span ; 
 His name, reproach, and praise, was Man ! 
 Did no great deeds adorn his course, 
 No deeds to swell the poet's verse ? 
 
110 BATH ABBEY CHURCH, 
 
 To courts and camps alike unknown, 
 To senates, or the bustling town : 
 
 Retirement claim'd him for her own. J 
 
 Warn'd by Heaven's kind though secret voice, 
 
 His steps, averse from pomp and noise, 
 
 To peaceful solitude he bent, 
 
 On contemplation still intent. 
 
 Each topic drew his active mind, 
 
 Nor least the world he left behind. 
 
 Oft he survey'd its busy stage : 
 
 Mark'd the great actors of the age, 
 
 After a fretful hour's debate, 
 
 Passing to their eternal state. 
 
 Thus, while he view'd the fleeting train, 
 
 Life appear'd sacred all, and vain : 
 
 " Sacred how high, and vain how low, 
 
 He knew not here — but died to know !" 
 
 From the occasional inaccuracy and obscurity of this 
 composition (particularly observable towards the close), 
 it is probable that it never received the last corrections 
 of its respectable, though eccentric author*. 
 
 * The concluding lines (marked on the monument as a quotation,) 
 are usually condemned by visitors as entirely unintelligible. This is 
 perhaps too severe a judgment. Mr. Bates has attempted to express, 
 with more conciseness than our language will bear, a truth, in itself as 
 simple as it is important. " The man who, from a distance, views with 
 the eye of a Christian and a philosopher the course of human affairs, 
 while he recognises the high and sacred purposes for which our existence 
 was bestowed upon us, will see more clearly the vanity and unworthi- 
 ness of the uses to which it is too frequently applied. In his present 
 state, however, he cannot expect to comprehend (to their full extent) 
 either the former or the latter. To know these, he must be admitted 
 to that sanctuary, where alone the motives and conduct of rational agents 
 will be justly appreciated, and their final destination fully understood." 
 The known piety and usefulness of the author's writings will perhaps 
 justify the purport and excuse the length of this note. 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. Ill 
 
 To these may be added, the following inscription on 
 the monument of Lady Miller, wife of Sir John Miller, 
 knt., of Bath-Easton Villa; Ob. June 24th, 1781. 
 
 Devoted stone ! amidst the wrecks of time 
 Uninjur'd bear thy Miller's spotless name ; 
 
 The virtues of her youth and ripen'd prime, 
 The tender thought, th' enduring record claim. 
 
 When clos'd the num'rous eyes that round this bier 
 Have wept the loss of wide-extended worth ; 
 
 O gentle stranger ! may one gen'rous tear 
 
 Drop, as thou bendest o'er this hallow'd earth ! 
 
 Are truth and genius, love and pity thine, 
 
 With lib'ral charity, and faith sincere ? 
 Then rest thy wand'ring step beneath this shrine, 
 
 And greet a kindred spirit hov'ring near. 
 
 EPITAPHS IN LATIN PROSE. 
 
 Epitaphs in the style which has been termed Lapi- 
 dary, are of very rare occurrence on these walls. The 
 following words, on the monument of Susanna Chap- 
 man, " Pia Pulchra Pudica Puerpera," were they not 
 preceded by the memorials of her name and family in 
 English, would afford the nearest approach to a classical 
 model. 
 
 Of the quaint and rhetorical style of 1G27, the epi- 
 taph of T. Martin is a curious specimen. 
 
 Juxta repositi sunt 
 (Spiritus Sancti nuper codes) 
 
 Sacri cineres 
 
 Tiiom;e Martyx, Arm. A.M. 
 
 Exonio : Devoniensis, 
 
 Qui obiit die X. Sept. A.S. 1627. 
 
 Ignotis tibi, tui ignaris mcriti 
 
 Loqucntem struimus, Martine, tumulum, 
 
112 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Qui tuoe rependat debitum memoriae, 
 
 Referatque posteris 
 
 ^Etatem in juvene perfectam, compositos mores, 
 
 Ingenium suaviter fertile, 
 
 Animum virtutis et doctrinae saturum, 
 
 Judicium pene mirum, maturum, solidum. 
 
 Affectus humiles, nobiles, 
 
 Amorem omnibus, fldem amicis praestitam, 
 
 Religionis cultusque divini 
 
 Summe supplicem, vindicemque, 
 
 Omnia demum foelicem 
 
 Utut tarn ingenti animo infirmam substaret corpus. 
 
 Vos qui novistis, quosque novit, lectores 
 
 Nobilius dignemini sepulchrum ; 
 
 Vivoque erigite pectore Mausolceum ; 
 
 Vobisque cara sit Memoria, 
 
 Vobiscum resurrecturi ad Gloriam. 
 
 To the same class, (though it is less characteristic 
 than the above,) may be referred the pompous epitaph 
 on Sir "W. Draper ; said to have been composed by the 
 late Christopher Anstey : 
 
 H. S. E. 
 
 Vir summis cum Animi, turn corporis Dotibus 
 
 Egregie ornatus, 
 
 Gulielmus Draper, Balnei Eques. 
 
 In Schola Etonensi educatus, 
 
 Coll. deinde Regal. Cantabrigiae et alumnus et socius. 
 
 Quorum utrumque tarn moribus quam studiis honestavit. 
 
 Altiore tamen a natura ingenio praeditus 
 
 Quam ut umbratill 
 
 In academiae otio delitesceret, 
 
 Ad militiae laudem se totum contulit, 
 
 Et in diversis Europae Asiaeque partibus stipendia meruit. 
 
 In India Orientali A.D. 1758, exercitui regio imperavit. 
 
 Obsessamque a Gallis Sti. Georgii Arcem 
 
 Cum diu fortiter defendisset, 
 
 Strenua tandem facta eruptione, 
 
 I lost inm ropias, capta legionis Pnefecto repulit 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 113 
 
 Flagrante postea Hispaniensi bello, anno 1762, 
 
 Expeditionis contra Manillas, 
 
 Auctor idem et dux fuit : 
 
 Quibus expugnandis, dubium reliquit, 
 
 Britannise nomen virtute magis, an dementia insigniverit. 
 
 Vale Dux acer ! 
 
 Vir mansuete, liberalis, vale ! 
 
 Hoc fidum tuarum virtutum, spectataeque a pueris amicitiae, 
 
 posteris exemplar tradam. 
 
 Ob. Jan. A.D. 1787. iEtat. 66. C. A. 
 
 The following (though not strictly in the Lapidary 
 style) seem intended to approach more nearly to the 
 classical model : 
 
 Jacobo Antoxio Migliovaccio. And 32 , filio, 
 
 Patricio Tifernati Nob. Civi Florentino, 
 
 Qui, cum difficili morbo colluctatus, 
 
 Quum ad haec balnea se curaturus recepisset, 
 
 In medio aetatis fortunarumque cursu, 
 
 Eheu immaturus obiit 
 
 Annum agens XXXVIII. 
 
 Petrus Josephus Frater, Londini, 
 
 Caeterique Fratres, Florenti8e commorantes, 
 
 Fratri optimo ac piissimo, 
 
 Beneficiis ejus aucti, 
 
 Grati animi et pietatis ergo 
 
 Moerentes posuerunt. 
 
 M. S. 
 
 Egregii Viri 
 
 Gulielmi Melmoth, Armigeri ; 
 
 Qui, abhinc annos fere quadraginta, 
 
 In banc urbem se recipiens, 
 
 Inter amoena studiorum otia, 
 
 Et eruditorum elegantem consuetudinem, 
 
 Ipse, neque inelegans nee ineruditus, 
 
 Placide consenuit. 
 
114 BATH AEBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Inque vera fide Christiana, 
 
 Quam scriptis tuebatur, 
 
 Vita commendaverat, 
 
 Senectuti placide succubuit, 
 
 A.D. 1799, aetatis suae 89. 
 
 Quantis ille animi et ingenii, 
 
 Laudibus florebat, 
 
 (Quas marmor hoc frustra attingat,) 
 
 Testantur, 
 
 Quod bonis omnibus reliquit 
 
 Sui desiderium ; 
 
 Quae patriae, 
 
 Literarum ornamenta. 
 
 Huic suo, a teneris, 
 
 Amico, custodi, tutori, 
 
 Cognatione avunculo, affectu parenti, 
 
 Pignus hocce 
 
 Amoris in amicum amici, 
 
 Pietatis in parentem filii, 
 
 Moerens consecravit. 
 
 H. S. E. 
 
 Caleb Hielier Parry, M.D. R.S.S. 
 
 Vir probus, 
 
 Cultor Dei pius, 
 
 Medicus sagax. 
 
 Artem qua pollebat, 
 
 In hac urbe, per annos fere XL. 
 
 Ingenio, moribus, 
 
 Multiplici litterarum cognitione, 
 
 Exornavit : 
 
 Scientia, naturae indagatione perspicaci, 
 
 Feliciter promovit. 
 
 Ne tanto nomini 
 
 Ulla pars observantiae 
 
 Desideraretur, 
 
 Amici, eadem arte consociati, 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 115 
 
 Hoc marmor 
 
 P. C. 
 
 Vixit annos LXVI. Ob 1 . IX. die Mens. Mart. 
 
 A. S. 1822. 
 
 Juxta tumulatus est 
 
 Johannes Sibthorp, M.D. R.S.S. 
 
 Botanices 
 
 In Academia Oxoniensi 
 
 Professor, 
 
 Rerura Naturalium Investigation! 
 
 Per vitam brevem deditus, 
 
 Phytologise in primis amantissimus, 
 
 Regiones longinquitate ac metu 
 
 Peregrinantibus tantum non impervias, 
 
 Adversa dissuadente valetudine, 
 
 Obstantibus insuper ex omni parte 
 
 Periculis, exploravit. 
 
 Itineris molestiarum pleni, 
 
 Quod per Greciam nuper confecerat, 
 
 Labore oppressus, 
 
 Obiit Bathoniee, 
 
 Die octavo Februarii, 
 
 Anno setatis suae tricesimo octavo, 
 
 Christi 1800. 
 
 An object of equal interest will be found in the epi- 
 taph of the late venerable translator and annotator of 
 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 Subtus jacent reliquiae 
 
 Archibaldi Maclaine, 
 
 Ecclesise Anglicanse apud Hagam Comitis. 
 
 Per quinquaginta annos, 
 
 Pastoris dilectissimi. 
 Ingenuus, eruditus, pius, 
 
116 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 jEque mira suavitate morum 
 
 Ac fama scientiae praeclara. 
 
 Fuit ornatus. 
 
 Mortalium curis tandem defatigatus, 
 
 Et, quo propior, eo Isetior, 
 
 Ad coelum prospiciens, 
 
 In amplexu Dei placide quievit 
 
 XXV. Nov. 1804, 
 
 jEtat. 82. 
 
 Amicissimus H. Hope, 
 
 H. M. P. C. 
 
 The inscription for the late Dr. Harington, will appro- 
 priately terminate this class. 
 
 Memorise Sacrum 
 
 Henrici Harington, M.D. 
 
 Ex vere nobili Having tonorum stirpe de Kelston, 
 
 In agro Somerset oriundi : 
 
 Qui, natus Septembris 29, A.D. 1727, 
 
 Obiit Januarii 15, A.D. 1816; 
 
 Per sexaginta annos suae Bathoniae saluti 
 
 Omnibus officiis assidue studebat, 
 
 Optimas artes ad municipum suorum 
 
 Delectationem et utilitatem excolens : 
 
 Medicus solers et fidelis : 
 
 Poeta lepidus : 
 
 Musicus sciens et peritus : 
 
 Magistratus gravis, Justus, acer : 
 
 Erga suos amantissimus, 
 
 Erga omnes comis et benevolus : 
 
 Tanta insuper sanctitate morum, 
 
 Ut omnes animi sui facultates, 
 
 Quantum humanae vitae ratio pateretur, 
 
 Deo dicandas esse judicaret. 
 
 Hoc marmor, pecunia publice conlata, poni curaverunt 
 
 Amici deflentes. 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 117 
 
 EPITAPHS IN ENGLISH PROSE. 
 
 In this class the Abbey Church offers but little that 
 is remarkable for excellence, either of matter or of 
 language. The amiable character of a well-conducted 
 female in the middle walks of life, is depicted in the 
 following inscription, with a simplicity which may 
 amuse our readers : — 
 
 In memory of Rebecca Leyeorne, 
 
 Interr'd at the foot of this pillar. 
 
 Born June the 4th, 1698. 
 
 Deceased February 18, 1756. 
 
 A Wife more than twenty-three years to Robert Leyborne, D.D. 
 
 (Rector of the Churches of St. Dunstan, Stepney, 
 
 and of St. Ann's, Middlesex, near London ; 
 
 and Principal of Alban-Hall, in Oxford,) 
 
 Who never saw her once ruffled with ansrer, 
 
 Or heard her utter even a peevish word ; 
 
 Whether pain'd, or injur'd, the same good woman, 
 
 In whose mouth, as in whose character, 
 
 Was no contradiction : 
 
 Resign'd, gentle, courteous, affable ; 
 
 Without passion, though not without sense, 
 
 She took offence as little as she gave it ; 
 
 She never was, or made an enemy ; 
 
 To servants mild ; to relations kind ; 
 
 To the poor a friend ; to the stranger hospitable ; 
 
 Always caring how to please her husband, 
 
 Yet not less attentive to the one thing needful. 
 
 How few will be able to equal, 
 
 What all should endeavour to imitate ! 
 
 The epitaph on Col. A. Norton will be more in- 
 teresting to the antiquary than to the critic. 
 
 " Here under lyes all that was mortal of Col. Ambrose Norton-. 
 worthy and loyal descendant of worthy and loyal ancestors. He 
 
118 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 serred the crowne of England above 40 years, in employments both 
 civil and military ; in which he ever acquitted himself faithfully, and 
 as a man of honour. He was exceeding gracefull in person and 
 behaviour ; his justice, gentleness, and sweetness of disposition, 
 were equall to his courage ; and he crown'd all his other virtues 
 with a most exemplary piety. He was a branch of the ancient 
 family of the Nortons, of Somersetshire, and cousin-german to Sir 
 George Norton, of Abbot's-Leigh in that county ; a house happily 
 renowned in history for the concealment and preservation of King 
 Charles the Second, after the fatal battle at Worcester. The Lady 
 Norton, having been a widdow 3 years, first of Sir George Norton, 
 (to whose memory she has erected a marble monument at Abbot's- 
 Leigh, of the same form and dimention as this,) and since the 
 widdow of Col. Ambrose Norton, has in her great regard to his 
 memory erected this monument ; where he desired his body might 
 be interred, expecting a blessed resurrection. He died in the 77th 
 year of his age, on the 10th day of September, in the 10th year of 
 his Majesty King George, his last Royall Master, Annoq. Dom. 
 1723." 
 
 The present selection may be closed with the re- 
 markable termination of an epitaph, lately inscribed to 
 the memory of Dame Elizabeth Napier Webb : after 
 an enumeration of the lady's titles and connexions, the 
 writer has added the following address : 
 
 Reader, 
 
 If such thou art from heedless curiosity, 
 
 Enough is told thee ; 
 
 But if thou hast lost a parent 
 
 Ever kind, ever liberal, ever self-denying, 
 
 Ask thine own heart 
 
 for what is wanting here. 
 
 Vale, Matrum optima I 
 
 Ave, Anima beata ! 
 
 Some few of the monuments in this Church deserve 
 notice for the taste and skill displayed in their invention 
 
ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EPITAPHS. 119 
 
 and execution. That of Colonel Robert Wa lsh, (who 
 died Sept. 12th, 1788,) in which a broken column is 
 intended to represent the extinction of an ancient family, 
 has been praised by Mr. Warner. The monument lately 
 erected to the memory of the well-known Mr. Walsh 
 Porter, (ob. 1809,) presents a symbol equally ingenious 
 and appropriate. On an altar, dedicated to Taste and 
 Genius, is a lamp, the flame of which has just quitted 
 its socket, and is seen aspiring to its native skies. 
 
 The basso-relievo, executed by Flaxman, for the 
 monument of Dr. Sibthorp, deserves to be rendered 
 more generally known by the graver ; and two well- 
 carved figures by the same artist, (angels or genii, bear- 
 ing civic crowns,) ornament that ofW. Bixgham, late 
 senator of the United States*. 
 
 * Among other persons interred in the Abbey Church, (whose epi- 
 taphs would demand for their insertion too great a portion of these 
 pages, and perhaps also of the reader's patience,) it may be requisite to 
 particularise the names of Sir William Baker, Knt., Dr. Wall, of 
 Worcester, Sir William Blount, Bart., Sir Nigell Gresley, Bart., and 
 the well-known Beau Nash. The epitaph for the latter, said to have 
 been written by the late Dr. Harington, and inadvertently omitted in 
 the text, claims our notice, both from its own merit, and the local cele- 
 brity of its object. 
 
 Adeste O Cives, adeste Lugentes ! 
 
 Hie silent Leges 
 
 Ricardi Nash, Armig. 
 
 Nihil amplius imperantis ; 
 
 Qui diu et utilissime 
 
 Assumptus Bathoniee 
 
 Elegantise Arbiter, 
 
 Eheu ! 
 
 Morti, (ultimo designatori) 
 
 Haud indecore succubuit, 
 
 Ann. Dom. MDCCLXI. JEtm. sun LXXXVII. 
 
 Beatus ille qui sibi imperiosus ! 
 
120 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 If social virtues make remembrance dear, 
 Or manners pure on decent rule depend ; 
 
 To His remains consign one grateful tear, 
 
 Of youth the Guardian, and of all the Friend. 
 
 Now sleeps Dominion ; here no Bounty flows ; 
 
 Nor more avails the festive scene to grace, 
 Beneath that Hand which no discernment shews, 
 
 Untaught to honour, or distinguish place. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED* 
 PERSONS INTERRED IN BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 In pacing the ailes of this Church, as in viewing a 
 gallery of distinguished portraits, every person of sensi- 
 bility and reflection will naturally be induced to inquire 
 about the lives and characters of the persons whose 
 memories are recorded by the one, or persons depicted 
 by the other. This species of inquiry is not only praise- 
 worthy, but entitled to respect and attention ; as it tends 
 to consecrate and embalm merit, and bring false pre- 
 tence and adventitious notoriety to their real standard. 
 Whilst contemplating the monumental bust or statue, or 
 perusing the inscribed tablet, we involuntarily reflect on 
 the peculiar characteristics of the individual commemo- 
 rated, and feel an eager desire to become acquainted 
 with the circumstances that have distinguished his life, 
 and given him a claim to sepulchral fame. To afford 
 that information to the casual visitant or reader, and 
 thus gratify laudable curiosity, the following biographical 
 sketches have been penned. Should the facts detailed, 
 or the sentiments inculcated, tend to awaken and give 
 energy to judicious enterprise and honourable emulation, 
 the writer's intention will be accomplished, and his best 
 wishes gratified. In preparing them for the press, all 
 the known sources of information have been consulted ; 
 and in addition to the particulars thus acquired, new 
 facts and circumstances have been incorporated with the 
 
122 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 memoirs from the communications of various intelligent 
 and scientific friends. It must be remarked, that many 
 of the persons recorded in these pages have been so im- 
 mediately connected with this city, that their actions 
 form a part of its annals ; and on that account the chro- 
 nological order has been observed in the ensuing arrange- 
 ment ; except in regard to those individuals of rank or 
 family, who have also been interred here, but of whom 
 no other essential particulars have been collected than 
 what is inscribed upon their monuments ; and whose 
 names, for more convenient reference, are arranged 
 alphabetically. In the instances of Governor Pownall, 
 and Mr. Christopher Anstey, a deviation from the original 
 intention of noticing those only who were buried in the 
 Church has taken place ; but as both the above gentlemen 
 are intimately associated with the history of Bath, and 
 as both have inscribed tablets to their memories in the 
 Church, it is hoped that the introduction of their brief 
 memoirs will not be deemed irrelevant. 
 
 JAMES MONTAGUE, S.T.P. 
 
 Bishop of Winchester. Ob. 1618. 
 
 Some particulars of this learned prelate have been 
 given in Chapter III. ; but his talents and munificence 
 entitle him to a still more extended notice. He was 
 born in the year 1568, at Boughton, in Northampton- 
 shire, the seat of Sir Edward Montague, Knt., his father, 
 who was lineally descended from the Montacutes, Earls 
 of Salisbury. He received his education at Christ's 
 College, Cambridge; and in 1598 was appointed the 
 first Master of Sidney Sussex College, in that University, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 123 
 
 by the executors of Lady Anne Sidney, the foundress*. 
 Of that College, to use the quaint phraseology of Fuller, 
 he became the " Nursing-father ; for he found it in 
 bonds to pay twenty marks per annum to Trinity College, 
 for the ground whereon it is built, and left it free, assign- 
 ing it a rent for the discharge thereof f." He also took 
 great pains to overlook the buildings of his College ; and 
 bestowed 100/. in improving the ancient King's Ditch, 
 which intersected the grounds there, into a regular water- 
 course. His abilities were considerable, and led to 
 various promotions. In December 1604, he was made 
 Dean of Worcester by King James, " who did ken a 
 man of merrit as well as any Prince in Christendome^ ;" 
 and with whom he long continued in great favour. In 
 March 1608, he was advanced to the See of Bath and 
 Wells ; and was consecrated on the 17th of April follow- 
 ing. His generous reparations have already been de- 
 tailed ; and in addition to his works at Bath Abbey 
 Church, it may be mentioned, from Bishop Godwin, 
 that " he built a fair pulpit of freestone in the same || ;" 
 although not any thing of the kind now remains, nor 
 does the least notice of it appear to have been taken by 
 any other author. He was translated to Winchester on 
 the 4th of October, 1616 ; and dying in that city, in 
 
 * Lady Sidney was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a costly 
 monument erected to her memory still remains ; and has been par- 
 ticularly described in Brayley's elaborate History of that building. One 
 of Lady Sidney's executors was Sir John Harington, the worthy knight 
 who so much interested himself in the restoration of Bath Abbey 
 Church ; and it is not improbable but that his influence with Bishop 
 Montague arose from the original appointment of the latter to the 
 Mastership of Sidney College, which had been partly effected by Sir 
 John's patronage, who was Lady Sidney's nephew. 
 
 t " Worthies of England," vol. ii. p. 164 : edit. 1811. 
 
 I Ibid. || " Catalogue of the Bishops of England," p. 386. 
 
124 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 July 1618, was interred at Bath, agreeably to his own 
 desire. On his monument, which was erected at the 
 expense of his four brothers, are the following inscrip- 
 tions : — 
 
 " Memoriae sacrum, pietate, virtute, & doctrina insignis Jacobus 
 Montacutus, Edvardi Montacuti de Boughton, in comitatu North- 
 amptoniae, equitis aurati, a Saris. Comitibus deducta propagine, filius 
 quintogenitus, a sapientissimo Jacobo Rege Sacello Regio Decanus 
 propositus, ad Episcopatum Bathoniensem promotus, et deinde ad 
 Wintoniensem, ob spectatam in maximis negotiis fidem, dexteritatem 
 et prudentiam, in sanctius concilium adscitus, Regique (cui charissi- 
 mus erat,) in aula assiduus, in medio actuosae vitas cursu, quam Deo, 
 ecclesiae et patriae devoverat, ad aeternum vitam evocatus 2° Julii, 
 Anno Domini 1618 ; aetatis 50." 
 
 " Reverendissimus hie Episcopus in hoc Templo antiquissimo, 
 quod, inter alia multa egregia pietatis monumenta, maximis im- 
 pensis instauravit, corpus deponi jussit, donee Christo Redemptori 
 videbatur, eum cum justis ad interminatam vitam, quam in terris 
 semper anhelavit, excitare. Edvardus Montacutus de Boughton ; 
 Henricus Montacutus, Capitalis in Banco Regio Justitiarius; Carolus 
 Montacutus, testamenti Curator ; et Sidneius Montacutus, a suppli- 
 cum libellis, equites aurati, fratri optime merito, cum lachrymis 
 posuerunt." 
 
 Edward Jorden, M.D. Ob. 1632. — Bath, from 
 being the crowded resort of the sick and superannuated, 
 as well as of the healthy and richer classes, has neces- 
 sarily had among its resident inhabitants a large pro- 
 portion of medical men ; many of whom lie buried in 
 the Abbey Church. Among them was Dr. Jorden, who 
 appears to have been eminent in his profession at Bath 
 in the early part of the seventeenth century. Dr. Gui- 
 dott says, that Jorden " was a gentleman of a good 
 family of Kent, who being a younger brother, adopted 
 Physick as a profession, for which, when he had accom- 
 plished himself by a convenient course of studies in his 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 125 
 
 own country, he travelled abroad to see the manners 
 and customs of the Universities beyond sea*." At Padua, 
 he took the degree of Doctor in Physic, and returning 
 home, he practised at London, and " became an emi- 
 nently solid and rational Philosopher and Physician, and 
 one of that famous and learned Society, The King's Col- 
 lege of Physicians." He eventually settled at Bath, where 
 he continued till his death, in 1632, at the age of 63, 
 and was buried in the south aile of the Abbey Church, 
 but has neither monument nor inscription. 
 
 Dr. Jorden is said to have been the first resident 
 physician who wrote on the Mineral Waters at Bath. 
 He was also the author of some treatises on Chemistry, 
 and engaged in a losing speculation relative to the manu- 
 facture of Alum, as we learn from a passage in his treatise 
 on Natural Baths and Mineral Waters. " Now I come 
 to Alom, (indignant vox ipsa jubet renovare dolorem !) the 
 greatest Debtor I have, and I the greatest Benefactor to 
 it, as shall appear when I think fit to publish the artifice 
 thereof." It seems that the monopoly of the alum works, 
 which James the First granted to Sir Arthur Ingram, 
 had been expected by Dr. Jorden. 
 
 Tobias Venner, M.D. Ob. 1660.— Among the 
 earlier Bath physicians, Dr. Venner was one of the most 
 distinguished. He was a native of North Petherton, in 
 Somersetshire, and took the degree of Doctor of Physic 
 at Alban Hall, Oxford. Commencing practice in this 
 city, he continued to reside here during almost half a 
 
 * Dr. Guidott's " Lives and Characters of the Physicians of Bath," 
 from 1598 to 1676, in the " Collection" of his Treatises, 8vo. 17?.">: 
 p. 184. 
 
126 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 century. Dr. Guidott says, " He had the character of 
 a plain charitable physician, but no ready man at stating 
 a case. However, he found the right way to write a 
 book, called ' Via Recta ad Vitam hugam,' wherein is 
 this memorable observation, ' That a Gammon of Bacon 
 is of the same nature with the rest of the Hog*.' " 
 This remark may be considered as mere hypercri- 
 ticism ; the passage to which it refers implying only, 
 that Gammon of Bacon is of the same nature with other 
 parts of the Hog, but not so good, it being harder 
 of digestion. Dr. Venner's Treatise, which contains 
 a copious collection of rules and maxims relating to 
 diet and regimen, was probably superior to any thing 
 of the kind that had been previously published; and 
 although it has been long since superseded by the 
 productions of later writers, it contains various pass- 
 ages that may still be read with interest. Dr. Venner 
 died at Bath, March the 27th, 1660, aged 85; and 
 was buried in the Abbey Church, where a heavy 
 monument of marble and freestone was erected to 
 his memory, having a long Latin inscription under his 
 Bust. The following strange verse, or epitaph, on 
 him, is given by Dr. Guidott, who calls it a riddle ; 
 but leaves the meaning to be conjectured. It seems 
 to be a coarse satire on the personal appearance of 
 Dr. Venner : 
 
 The Ashes of this Grave, 
 No Phoenix but Chimera gave ; 
 
 The Head, the Feet, about the Thigh, 
 A Duck, a Mouse, a Butterfly. 
 
 * " Lives of the Physicians of Bath," p. 187. The " Via Recta," &c. 
 was first published in 1620, 4to ; and has since been twice reprinted. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 127 
 
 Samuel Bave, M.D., ob. 1668, was a native of 
 Cologne, in Germany, and came to England as tutor to 
 the son of Sir Thomas Edmonds, ambassador from King- 
 James the First to France. At Oxford he took the 
 degree of M.D. in 1628. About the year 1640 he re- 
 moved from Gloucester to Bath, where (Guidott says,) 
 he practised with " admirable success" for nearly thirty 
 years. Dr. Bave died in 1668, at the age of 80 ; and 
 being interred in the Abbey Church, a monument was 
 there erected for him, with a Latin epitaph by Dr. Gui- 
 dott, who speaks highly of his medical skill, and says 
 that he was acquainted with several languages. His 
 memory, according to Guidott, was so good, and his 
 mind so active, that he could both write himself, and 
 dictate at the same time to two Amanuenses, in different 
 languages. 
 
 John Maplet, M.D., ob. 1670, was born in Lon- 
 don, and educated at Westminster, and afterwards at 
 Christ Church, Oxford. He was subsequently a Proctor 
 of that University, and Principal of Gloucester Hall. 
 About the middle of the seventeenth century he visited 
 France and Flanders, as tutor to Lucius and Henry, who 
 were successively Viscounts Falkland. On his return to 
 England, Dr. Maplet married a lady of Bristol, and 
 divided his professional time between that city and 
 Bath. Some of his letters, on medical subjects, were 
 published by Dr. Guidott ; and also a few short Latin 
 poems. He died at Bath in 1670; and was buried in 
 the north aile of the Abbey Church, where a monument, 
 with a Latin inscription by Dr. Guidott, was erected to 
 his memory. 
 
128 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Thomas Guidott, M.B. Ob. 1705. — From the 
 various writings of Guidott, and his inquiries into the 
 nature and properties of the Bath waters, his name has 
 become particularly associated with this city, in which 
 he practised as a physician, either wholly or partially, 
 for nearly forty years. Born at Lymington, in Hamp- 
 shire, in 1638, he was the fourth in descent from Signior 
 Antonio Guidotti, a native of Florence, who came into 
 England in the early part of the reign of Edward the 
 Sixth, from whom he received the honour of knighthood. 
 He acquired his early education at the Grammar School 
 in Dorchester, and afterwards, in October 1656, became 
 a commoner of Wadham College, Oxford, where he 
 studied anatomy and medicine, and first entered into 
 practice. On July the 14th, 1666, he was admitted 
 Bachelor of Physic ; and in the following year he settled 
 at Bath, and became a successful practitioner under the 
 encouraging friendship of Dr. John Maplet. Whilst in 
 that city he made numerous experiments on the Bath 
 waters ; and although these were not conducted with 
 the precision that distinguishes the present age of sys- 
 tematic chemistry, his remarks display considerable 
 judgment and professional acumen. In the course of 
 his inquiries, he endeavoured to obtain the opinions of 
 the most eminent physicians of his time, with several 
 of whom he maintained a correspondence ; but at Bath 
 he experienced considerable opposition, probably as much 
 from the want of a conciliatory temper, as from the 
 qualities to which he himself ascribed it ; namely, "envy, 
 pride, beggary, and revenge." 
 
 It appears from his writings, that Dr. Guidott had 
 a most thorough contempt for Quackery ; and the un- 
 guarded and unqualified expression of this feeling seems 
 to have involved him in frequent disputes with his fellow- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 129 
 
 practitioners, and to have engendered much calumny*. 
 To these causes, perhaps, the decay of his practice at 
 Bath may be more correctly attributed, than to " his 
 impudence, lampooning, and libelling," as stated by the 
 crabbed author 'of the " Athenae Oxonienses." Guidott's 
 language at times possesses certainly a coarseness, which 
 but ill accords with the decorum of modern literature ; 
 yet of the provocations he received we know very little ; 
 and what may now seem splenetic and unbecoming, 
 might be nothing more than the deserved retort on abuse, 
 falsehood, and misreprehension. That he exerted him- 
 self greatly to advance the celebrity of the Bath waters, 
 there can be no doubt ; for he was fully convinced of 
 their paramount efficacy, and strenuously laboured to 
 extend the knowledge of their healthful qualities. 
 
 " In 1671," says Wood, " he performed his exercise 
 at Oxon for the degree of doctor of his faculty, but has 
 not as yet taken that degree f :" nor does it appear that 
 he ever took it. Eloy agrees in stating, that he went 
 
 * In his preface to Dr. Jorden's " Discourse of Natural Bathes," &c, 
 which Guidott republished in 1669, with an " Appendix concerning 
 Bathe," of his own, is the following strong passage; and many others of 
 similar import, but applied immediately to the faculty at Bath, are scat- 
 tered through his tracts : — " Empiricks and juggling Medicasters do so 
 much abound, that 'tis almost as hard a matter to meet with a regular 
 and well-accomplished Physitian now, as it was in former times for 
 Diogenes to find an honest man." After stating his ideas of the proper 
 attainments of a physician, as contradistinguished from " Agytta and 
 Quack-salvers" he whimsically compares " a Compleat Physitiun to the 
 draught of a Man, standing on the two legs of Anatomy and Herbary, 
 operating (if need be) with the hands of Chirurgery and Pharmacy, 
 having a Chemical head ; and the bulk of his body made up of the 
 Nature, Kind, and Cures of Diseases, which we may not improperly 
 term a Body of Physic." Ibid. 
 
 t " Athenae Oxonienses," vol. iv. p. 7 ; i 4 . Bliss's; edit. 
 
 K 
 
130 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 to Oxford, in 1671, to take a " Doctor's bonnet;" but 
 that he returned to Bath without fulfilling his intention*. 
 In 1G71 he removed to London, though he still continued 
 to practise at Bath during the summer months. From 
 that period almost all that is recorded of him is, that he 
 was offered the choice of a professor's chair, both at 
 Venice and at Leyden, but declined both. Wood cha- 
 racterises him as " a person of good parts, well versed 
 in Greek and Latin learning, and intelligent in his pro- 
 fession ; but so much overwhelm 'd with self-conceit and 
 pride, that he is in a manner sometimes crazed, especially 
 when his blood is heated with too much bibbing." In 
 this language there is probably an undeserved severity ; 
 for whoever examines his writings will find that the 
 strength of the argument lay generally with himself; 
 however it may be enveloped in a rambling phraseology, 
 or mingled with sarcastic remarks on the conduct of 
 his adversaries. That he keenly felt the wrongs of 
 which he complains, is evident from many passages in 
 his works, — one of which (not the most severe) is here 
 given : it occurs in the Postscript to his " Apology for 
 the Bath," 8vo., which was first published in the year 
 1705. Whether the Collections for the work he alludes 
 to have been preserved or not, is unknown : if yet extant 
 they would, doubtless, be curious to examine, as he was 
 so many years connected with this city. — U I have written 
 this," he says, " as my last kindness to the Bath, to 
 which in some measure I may apply the words of the 
 unfortunate learned Dr. Jorden concerning allom — * The 
 greatest Debtor I have, and I the greatest benefactor to it.' — 
 What spare hours I may have for the future, I shall 
 employ to prepare for the Publick a more bulky work in 
 
 * " Dictionnaire Historique de la Medecine," torn. i. p. 400. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 131 
 
 Latin, being the Annals of this City, and the History of 
 Wells, with the Succession of the Bishops and Deans of 
 that Church, from the first foundation to the present time ; 
 which may prove of greater advantage to the world than 
 to waste precious minutes about other things of a meaner 
 concern." 
 
 The following inscription, now partly defaced, occu- 
 pies a tablet in the wall at the east end of the Abbey 
 Church, on the outside : — 
 
 " IN MEMORY OF THOMAS GUIDOTT, M.B., BY WHOSE AUTHO- 
 RITY DRINKING THE BATH WATERS WAS REVIVED, MDCLXXIII., 
 AND WHO DIED MDCCV. THIS INSCRIPTION WAS HERE PLACED 
 MDCCXXVII., BY JOHN WYXTER, M.B." 
 
 William Oliver, M.D., F.R.S. Ob. 1716.— There 
 have been two eminent physicians of this name, both of 
 whom were resident at Bath, and both Fellows of the 
 Royal Society ; in consequence of which their writings 
 have been confounded by Dr. Watt, in his " Bibliotheca 
 Britannica," and by other writers. The subject of the 
 present article was descended from the ancient family of 
 Trevarnoe, in Cornwall. He was very early attached 
 to physical inquiries ; but whilst pursuing his studies in 
 foreign Universities, was induced, in 1688, to join the 
 expedition under the Prince of Orange, for the liberation 
 of England from the murderous tyranny of the infatuated 
 race of the Stuarts. In 1693, his services were rewarded 
 by the office of Physician to the Fleet ; in which station 
 he continued till 1702. He was afterwards Physician to 
 the Hospitals, both of Chatham and Greenwich ; the 
 latter of which he held till his decease, (unmarried,) on 
 the 4th of April, 1716 : he was buried in the nave of the 
 
132 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Abbey Church. Several of his communications to the 
 Royal Society may be found in the " Philosophical 
 Transactions" for the years 1693, 1703, 1704, and 1705. 
 They relate to the pressure of water at various depths ; an 
 ebbing and flowing well; some remarkable Curiosities in 
 Denmark and Holland ; a case of phrenitis cured by 
 copious bleeding ; Jesuits' bark ; and an instance of 
 extraordinary sleepiness in a husbandman, at Tinsbury, 
 near Bath. In 1704 he published, in 12mo, a " Trea- 
 tise on Fevers, and the Bath Waters ;" and in 1707, a 
 " Practical Dissertation on Bath Waters," conjoined to 
 the cause of their heat and ingredients, the original of 
 springs, antiquity of Bathing, &c. The latter work was 
 republished in 1716. 
 
 William Baker, S.T.P. Ob. 1732.— This prelate 
 was a native of Ilton, in Somersetshire, and of the same 
 family as the famous mathematician, Thomas Baker, 
 author of " The Geometrical Key, or the Gate of 
 Equations Unlocked," &c. — who was probably his uncle. 
 He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, of which, 
 in 1719, he was elected Warden; but about four years 
 previously he had been appointed Rector of St. Giles's in 
 the Fields, London. That living he held till his decease, 
 notwithstanding his promotion to the see of Bangor in 
 1723, and his subsequent translation to Norwich in 1727. 
 His publications were only four " Sermons." He died 
 at Bath on the 4th of December, 1732, aged 65 years; 
 and was buried in the nave of the Abbey Church. 
 
 Ralph Thicknesse, M.A. Ob. 1742. — He was the 
 brother of Philip Thicknesse, at one time Lieutenant- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 133 
 
 Governor of Landguard Fort, and well known for his 
 talents, personal adventures, and eccentricities. Ralph 
 Thicknesse was an assistant-master at Eton College ; 
 from which, when a scholar, he had been elected to 
 King's College, at Cambridge, in 1727. He published, 
 in 1741, an edition of "Phsedrus, with English Notes," 
 and " Examples, rendered into proper Latin." In 1742 
 he made application for a Doctor's degree, the Fellows 
 of King's College having promised that they would make 
 him their Provost after the decease of Dr. Snape, whose 
 dissolution was expected ; but he himself died on the 
 11th of October, in the same year, even before the 
 person whom he had been invited to succeed. He had 
 considerable skill in music ; and his death occurred, 
 suddenly, whilst assisting at a concert at Bath, in the 
 performance of a piece of his own composition. Dr. 
 Oliver, the second of that name, who was standing near 
 his elbow when he fell, conceived that his decease was 
 occasioned by mental anxiety respecting the execution of 
 his own music. The same gentleman wrote the following 
 elegiac lines to his memory : — 
 
 Weep, oh ! ye Wits, who ever laugh 'd before, — 
 
 Thicknesse, your favourite Thicknesse, jokes no more. 
 
 No more his Attic salt, his Roman fire, 
 
 The social band, delighted, shall admire. 
 
 Hush'd be all Harmony, except the strain 
 
 That 's taught in mournful numbers to complain, 
 
 How He, who sounds celestial could combine, 
 
 Was snatched from Earth, in Heavenly choir to shine. 
 
 Ye Poets, — sweet companions of his youth, — 
 
 Quit all your fables and adorn the truth ; 
 
 In elegiac plaints his story tell, 
 
 How lov'd he liv'd ! and how lamented, fell ! 
 
134 
 
 BATH ABBEY CHURCH 
 
 William Broome, LL.D. Ob. 1745.— This very 
 able assistant to Pope in his translation of Homer, was 
 of humble parentage, and born in Cheshire. He was 
 educated at Eton, and had the singular ill-fortune to be 
 captain of the School a whole year, without any vacancy 
 occurring by which he might have obtained a scholar- 
 ship at Kings College. Being " superannuated " 
 through this delay, he was enabled by some friendly 
 contributions to pursue his studies at St. John's College, 
 where he obtained a small exhibition. When George 
 the First visited Cambridge in 1728, Broome was 
 honoured with the title of Doctor of Laws. In his latter 
 years he held the livings of Oakley Magna, and Eye, in 
 Suffolk ; which were presented to him by Charles, Lord 
 Cornwallis, to whom he was Chaplain. He died at 
 Bath, on the lGth of November, 1745, and was buried 
 in this Church. 
 
 Broome was an excellent scholar and a good poet, 
 but he was chiefly eminent for his translations. In the 
 morning of life he united with Ozell and Oldisworth in 
 translating the " Iliads" into prose; a performance 
 which, in point of fidelity, has been said to be superior 
 to that of Pope, but is now known only to the curious. 
 The success of Pope's version of the Iliad appears to 
 have induced Broome and his much esteemed friend, 
 Fenton, to undertake a translation of the Odyssey ; but 
 Pope becoming acquainted with their intention, as Ruff- 
 head relates, and being more willing to have them for 
 confederates than rivals, engaged their assistance; and 
 of that edition which bears Pope's name, eight books, viz. 
 the 2d, 6th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, and 23d, were 
 translated by Broome, and four others by Fenton. The 
 whole of the notes, also, were written by Broome, whose 
 general learning and strong critical acumen they strikingly 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 135 
 
 exemplify. His share of the poem is equal in every 
 respect to that of either of his coadjutors ; yet Pope, 
 with whom he appears to have quarrelled in regard to 
 pecuniary remuneration, had the baseness to speak of 
 him in the " Bathos" as a proficient in the " art of 
 sinking." — Pope's adversaries, however, were of a dif- 
 ferent opinion ; and Henley adverts to their respective 
 merits in this " ludicrous distich :" — 
 
 Pope came off clean with Homer ; but they say 
 Broome went before, and kindly swept the way. 
 
 Sir John Shadwell, Knt., M.D., &c. Ob. 1747. 
 — He was born at London in 1670, being the son of 
 Thomas Shadwell, the dramatist ; a descendant of a 
 respectable family in Staffordshire. He was educated 
 at All Souls' College, Oxford : and proceeded M.A. in 
 1692; M.B. in 1697; and M.D. in 1701. In August 
 1699, he attended the Earl of Manchester on his embassy 
 extraordinary to Louis XIV., and continued with that 
 nobleman at Paris till 1701. He afterwards became 
 Physician to Queen Anne ; to George I., who conferred 
 on him the honour of knighthood; and to George II. 
 He died at Bath on the 4th of December, 1747, and was 
 interred in the nave of this Church. 
 
 Richard Nash, Esq. Ob. 1761. — Few men have 
 acquired more celebrity while alive, or will be longer 
 remembered in their place of residence after death, than 
 the once noted " Beau Nash." Though possessed 
 neither of rank, fortune, nor learning, his talents and 
 address raised him to a commanding situation in the 
 
136 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 world of fashion ; and enabled him to exercise consider- 
 able influence over the great, the wealthy, and even the 
 wise ; many of whom treated him as an equal, or sub- 
 mitted to him as a dictator. Over the amusements of 
 Bath he long reigned with despotic power ; and he 
 generally exercised that power for the benefit, or, at 
 least, for the gratification of his subjects. 
 
 Nash was a native of Swansea in Wales, where his 
 father was concerned in a glass manufactory ; and where 
 he was born, on the 18th of October, 1674. Young 
 Nash was early sent to Oxford, whence he was hastily 
 removed by his friends, to prevent him from marrying 
 an intriguing female with whom he had become con- 
 nected. He was at first destined for the law, but wa, y 
 soon introduced to the army ; the strict discipline of 
 which was not compatible with his volatile and gay dis- 
 position. He therefore left it, and took chambers in 
 the Temple, and subsequently engaged in the gay and 
 dissipated pursuits of the town. 
 
 At the theatres and other public places most of his 
 hours were passed, and the gaming-table was the scene 
 of his most serious studies. Occupied by dress, play, 
 and female society, Nash was distinguished as a Beau,. 
 or Dandy, of the seventeenth century ; and the former 
 appellation, which thus early was attached to his name, 
 continued to designate him through the remainder of his 
 life. On the accession of William of Orange to the 
 English throne, Nash became known as a public cha- 
 racter from the following circumstance: — It was cus- 
 tomary for the Societies of the Benchers and Students 
 belonging to the Temple, to entertain the monarch on his 
 succeeding to the crown, with a feast and pageant. The 
 reputation which Nash enjoyed for ingenuity and wit, 
 induced the Templars to consign to his management the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 137 
 
 direction of the festival. On this occasion he obtained 
 the approbation of all parties ; and the King was so 
 pleased, that he offered to confer on our director of the 
 Temple revels the honour of knighthood ; but this empty 
 compliment was declined. 
 
 In 1704 Nash visited Bath, and was introduced to 
 Captain Webster, at that time Master of the Ceremonies, 
 to whom he became an assistant ; and on the Captain's 
 death, shortly after, succeeded him in the sovereign 
 direction of the festivities of this city. Our hero was 
 now in his element : the post he held was adapted to his 
 talents and gratifying to his inclination ; and being thus 
 invested with authority, he exerted it to render the 
 amusements more polished, and to promote the comfort 
 and convenience of those who frequented the place*. 
 
 Nash not only endeavoured to preserve the health of 
 his subjects from injury, but also employed his authority 
 to guard their lives from danger. Swords were usually 
 worn by gentlemen, at that period, as an essential 
 appendage to dress ; and at Bath, disputes arising at the 
 gaming-table, afforded frequent pretexts for having re- 
 course to that weapon. Nash prohibited the wearing of 
 swords in the public rooms. Two gamblers, however, 
 fought by torch-light, in the Grove, and one of them was 
 dangerously wounded. That circumstance furnished our 
 
 * It has been stated that no rank could shield from animadversion 
 the offender against the laws which Nash had established ; nor would 
 any consideration induce him to allow of their being superseded or sus- 
 pended. When, at one of the dress balls, the Duchess of Queensbury 
 made her appearance in an apron of point lace, worth five hundred 
 guineas, Nash desired her to remove that part of her dress, and taking it 
 from her, threw it to the attendants who were waiting. On another 
 occasion the Princess Amelia wished to have one dance after the appointed 
 hour of concluding the ball ; but he told her royal highness, that the 
 laws of Bath, like those of Lycurgus, were unalterable. 
 
138 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Master of the Ceremonies with a rational pretext for 
 establishing a positive law, that no swords should, on any 
 account, be worn in Bath. 
 
 To support his dignity and influence, Nash adopted 
 such external marks of splendour as might produce an 
 imposing effect on the minds of those by whom he was 
 surrounded. He wore the most fashionable clothes, 
 covered with lace ; and adopted a large white hat of a 
 peculiar shape, cocked, as the symbol of authority. 
 When he travelled, his chariot was drawn by six horses, 
 and attended by musicians and other persons both on foot 
 and on horseback. Nash was not only treated with respect 
 by the beau monde in general, but was honoured with 
 marks of esteem by Frederick, Prince of Wales, the 
 Prince of Orange, and by many of the nobility. He 
 was not without friends among literary men. Pope 
 corresponded with him ; and when Nash erected an 
 obelisk in Queen Square, to commemorate the visit of 
 the Prince and Princess of Wales to Bath, in 1738, that 
 great poet furnished an inscription for it. But though 
 Nash was on good terms with many persons of emi- 
 nence, his situation necessarily exposed him to the censure 
 of others. Among the latter was Dr. Smollett, who 
 appears to have entertained some spleen against him ; 
 which, perhaps, originated in the opposition made by 
 Nash to the Doctor's attempt to establish himself as 
 a physician in Bath. Whatever may have been his 
 motive, Smollett, in Roderick Random, relates a circum- 
 stance calculated to place the Master of the Ceremonies 
 in a ridiculous point of view. He represents him as 
 having been guilty of a gratuitous piece of rudeness, in 
 walking up to a young lady, whose shape was somewhat 
 deformed, on her appearing at the rooms, and asking her 
 if she could tell him the name of Tobit's dog ? To this 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 139 
 
 she immediately replied, " His name was Nash, and an 
 impudent dog he was *." 
 
 The character of Beau Nash, whatever might have 
 been his faults, was marked by some redeeming virtues. 
 As he acquired money easily, so he readily bestowed it 
 on those who were in distress. Many instances of his 
 benevolence are recorded ; and it is said that when cir- 
 cumstances left him without the means of relieving those 
 whom he found in want, he has been known to shed 
 tears. In the hard winter of 1739, his active charity 
 was the means of alleviating the misery of many. He 
 went to the habitations of those indigent persons whose 
 modest pride prevented them from making known their 
 necessities, and administered assistance to them unso- 
 licited. The weavers and the colliers of the neighbour- 
 hood of Bath being out of employment, entered the city 
 in a body, in a state of the utmost distress. Nash 
 
 * A satirical Epigram from the pen of Lord Chesterfield, and which 
 appears to have been written about the year 1741, has frequently been 
 quoted, and applied to the circumstance of the Corporation of Bath 
 having caused a marble statue of the " King of Bath," to be placed in 
 the pump-room, between the busts of Newton and Pope. It seems, 
 however, from a copy of the entire epigram, that it was a portrait of 
 Nash, so placed, that occasioned the satire, — the wit and keenness of 
 which are remarkable. The two concluding verses are as follow : — 
 
 " Nash represents Man in the mass 
 
 Made up of wrong and right ; 
 Sometimes a knave, sometimes an ass, 
 
 Now blunt, and now polite. — 
 The Picture placed the Busts between 
 
 Adds to the thought much strength ; 
 Wisdom and Wit are little seen, 
 
 But Folly's at full length." 
 
140 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 promptly undertook to raise a subscription for them, 
 and contributing ten guineas, was so successful that he 
 sent the half- starved labourers home to their families 
 with the means of preserving them from the impending 
 horrors of want*. 
 
 A singular anecdote is told by Sir Richard Steele, in 
 the Tatler, of which Nash is the hero, although his name 
 is not mentioned. In the early part of his life, when he 
 was Treasurer to the Society of the Middle Temple, on 
 his delivering in his annual account, there appeared 
 among the disbursements, " Ten Pounds for making a 
 man happy." An explanation of this item being re- 
 quired from the Treasurer, he said that one day he over- 
 heard a person say, " If I had ten pounds I should be 
 happy ;" and thinking that such a sum would be well laid 
 out in communicating happiness to a fellow-creature, he 
 
 * The following advertisement, originally published in the " Bath 
 Journal," serves to illustrate the character of Nash, and shew the nature 
 of some of the charges which he sustained in the course of his official 
 career : — 
 
 " Bath, April 25, [1748.] 
 
 " I think it hard, after above forty years being a fool and slave to 
 the Publick, I should be accused of getting Money by the Publick Sub- 
 scriptions. I now appeal to the Publick-rooms who receive the money ; 
 to the Musick who are constantly paid by the receivers, if ever they 
 were defrauded of a shilling ; or that I ever touched a sixpenny piece of 
 it. Indeed where there was any small surplus left, those that think I 
 got any of it, may find it in the Hospital Charity Book. To this I call 
 God and Man to witness. 
 
 " Richard Nash." 
 
 " N.B. It has cost me more money annually, on the publick account, 
 than any ten that ever came to Bath ; and if it was not for the sake of 
 the Bath and Company, I would leave 'em to the confusion I found 
 'em in." 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 141 
 
 had made the man a present of the money out of the 
 funds of the Society. Nash added, that if his conduct 
 should be thought objectionable, he would pay the 
 money out of his own pocket. The Templars unani- 
 mously approved of the donation. 
 
 The latter part of Nash's existence may be termed 
 unfortunate. His great age was attended with the 
 usual train of infirmities. He was disabled from en- 
 joying the festive amusements over which he had so 
 long presided, and which had formed the chief employ- 
 ment of his life ; and his passage to the grave was 
 embittered by the neglect of those to whom he had 
 so long been the minister of pleasure. His admirable 
 skill in play is said to have been the means by which 
 he defrayed his vast expenses, but this resource failed 
 him as he advanced in years. Sickness and poverty 
 embittered the " closing evening of his days," and 
 " sorrow and distress," evils against which he had pro- 
 vided no defence, fell on him with a " double weight," 
 inasmuch as he had never contemplated their approach. 
 
 He died at his house in St. John's Court, Bath, on 
 the 3d of February, 1761, at the age of 87, and was 
 honoured with a splendid funeral by the Corporation. 
 His memory was celebrated by two literary tributes of 
 respect ; the one in English, by Dr. Oliver, the other in 
 Latin, by the witty and erudite Dr. King. The epitaph 
 inscribed upon his monument, which was erected by 
 subscription in 1790, at the instigation, and chiefly at 
 the expense of the late Dr. Harington, has been already 
 given. A memoir of him was written by the amiable 
 and fascinating Goldsmith. 
 
142 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 William Oliver, M.D., F.R.S. Ob. 1764.— 
 Among the many Physicians of Bath who have attained 
 to the first rank of professional reputation, was the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, called the famous Dr. Oliver, to 
 distinguish him from his namesake. He was probably 
 the son of the Dr. Oliver already mentioned, as we find 
 him practising at Bath as early as 1730, when he attended 
 Mr. Borlase, afterwards the well-known Cornish an- 
 tiquary*. His practice was very extensive; and his 
 conversation and literary talents were of an elevated 
 cast. In 1751, he published a " Practical Essay on the 
 Use and Abuse of Warm Bathing, in Gouty Cases," 4to. 
 In the " Philosophical Transactions" for 1723, is a Paper 
 of his, " Partium Genitalium in Muliere Structura Prae- 
 ternaturalis ;" and for 1755, another on " Some Cases of 
 Dropsy cured by Sweet Oil." He died in 1764, and 
 was buried in this Church. Charlotte, his second daugh- 
 ter, became the wife of the learned Sir John Pringle, 
 M.D.— and P.R.S. 
 
 James Quix. Ob. 1766. — Few individuals of the 
 same profession have attracted more notice during their 
 public career, than Quin ; and, among the monuments in 
 Bath Abbey Church, that erected to his memory is the 
 one most likely to provoke a smile, an inquiry, or a 
 jocose remark from the spectator. The jolly face and 
 bushy wig of the bust are readily associated with the 
 traditional character of the witty John- Dory-loving player. 
 
 Quin, after having been long an ornament to the 
 
 * Nichols's " Literary Anecdotes," vol. v. p. 292. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 143 
 
 English Stage, was superseded by the superior histrionic 
 abilities of Garrick ; and he at length retired from the 
 mimic scene to enjoy, in the society of his friends, those 
 festive pleasures of the table to which he was constitu- 
 tionally attached. Bath was the place of his retreat, 
 and in this city he made his final " exit" in 1766, at the 
 age of 73 years. Among the numerous anecdotes which 
 have been published relative to Quin, a few may be se- 
 lected as illustrative of his talents and character. 
 
 The great success of Garrick at his first appearance 
 naturally excited some jealous feelings in the breast of 
 Quin, who considered him a formidable rival. After he 
 had witnessed the acting of the new favourite in the 
 character of Richard the Third, he authoritatively de- 
 clared, " That if the young fellow was right, he, and 
 the rest of the players, had been all wrong." At another 
 time, being told that the performance of Garrick drew 
 immense crowds to the theatre in Goodman's Fields 
 every night, he sarcastically observed, " That Garrick 
 was the preacher of a new religion ; like Whitfield he 
 might be followed for a time, but the people would all 
 return to the Church." This remark being reported 
 to Garrick, occasioned him to write the following re- 
 partee : — 
 
 " Pope Quin, who damns all Churches but his own, 
 Complains that Heresy infects the town ; 
 That Whitfield-Garrick has misled the age, 
 And taints the sound religion of the Stage : 
 ' Schism !' he cries, ' has turn'd the nation's brain ; 
 But eyes will open, and to Church again !' — 
 Thou great Infallible, forbear to roar, 
 Thy bulls and errors are rever'd no more ; 
 When Doctrines meet with general approbation, 
 It is not Heresy but Reformation." 
 
144 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Quin and Garrick first made their appearance on the 
 stage together at the theatre of Covent Garden, in 1760, 
 in the " Fair Penitent," (the former playing Horatio, 
 and the latter, Lothario) ; and after an arduous struggle 
 for superiority in the performance of their respective 
 parts, the meed was adjudged to Garrick : as Quin, "by 
 striving to do too much, missed the mark at which he 
 aimed*." 
 
 Quin's company was sought upon many accounts. 
 In providing excellent and choice dishes for dinner, and 
 high-flavoured wines, he was esteemed a perfect arbiter 
 elegantiarum. The pleasure he took in catering, and 
 more especially in talking over the various excellencies 
 of his provisions, with some premeditated conceits, 
 whimsically imagined and quaintly expressed, fixed on 
 him the character of an epicure. The mere indulgence 
 of his palate, it must be confessed, he enjoyed in com- 
 mon with many of his bottle companions ; if it appeared 
 more flagrant in him than in others, it was owing to his 
 drawing the notice of all companies to it, by seizing every 
 opportunity to introduce the subject. When he saw a 
 fishing-rod, or heard any mention of angling, he would 
 say it was a barbarous diversion. " Suppose now any 
 being that was as much my superior as I am to the poor 
 fish, were to say, ' This is a fine evening ; I'll go a 
 Quinning ;' if he were to bait with a haunch of venison, I 
 should gorge ; and how should I like to be dragged from 
 Richmond to Kingston, floundering and flouncing with a 
 hook in my gullet ?" To such discourse as this, which 
 was very usual with him, we owe the following epigram, 
 published about a year before his death : — 
 
 * Davies's " Life of Garrick," vol. i. p. 136. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL AXECDOTES. 145 
 
 Says Epicure Quin, " Should the devil in Hell 
 
 In fishing for men take delight, 
 And his hook bait with ven'son, I love it so well, 
 
 That, by Jove, I am sure I should bite* !" 
 
 Quin was by no means deficient in liberality; for 
 many shared his bounty. But the delicate manner in 
 which he bestowed it, on the poet Thomson, does much 
 honour to his character. Thomson, before he arose to 
 fame and eminence, was embarrassed in his circum- 
 stances, and arrested for debt. Quin, to whom he was 
 personally a stranger, had read his " Winter," and pro- 
 perly appreciated its merit. Hearing of his misfortune, 
 Quin went to the place where he was detained ; and after 
 introducing himself with an apology for the liberty he 
 had taken in calling on him without a previous acquaint- 
 ance, said, " Mr. Thomson, I owe you fifty pounds, and 
 am come to pay it." The poet looked on this speech as 
 a coarse and insulting joke ; and calmly expostulated 
 
 * Davies's " Life of Garrick," vol. ii. p. 114. — Quin's epicureanism, 
 if the phrase be allowable, has been thus alluded to by Anstey, in his 
 Epilogue to the " New Bath Guide." The poet feigns himself to be 
 wandering on the willowy banks of old Cam — when, lo ! the venerable 
 shade of Quin rises, and conveying the poet to " the embowering grove's 
 dark path," thus speaks : — 
 
 " Forth from Elysium's blest abodes I come, 
 Regions of joy, where Fate has fix'd my doom ; 
 Look on my face, — I well remember thine, 
 Thou knew'st me, too, when erst in life's decline, 
 At Bath I dwelt — there late repos'd my age, 
 And unrepining left this mortal stage : 
 Yet do those scenes, once conscious of delight, 
 Rejoice my social ghost ! There oft by night 
 
 I hold my way ; 
 
 And from the mullet, and the savory jole, 
 Catch fragrant fumes, that still regale my soul !" 
 L 
 
146 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 with his visitor on the cruelty of his conduct. " No/* 
 rejoined Quin, " I am perfectly serious : for the fact is, 
 on reading your poem some time since, I was so pleased 
 with it, that I left you in my Will the sum I have men- 
 tioned. However, as you probably have more occasion 
 for the money just at present than you will have after 
 my death, I think I may as well save my executors the 
 trouble of paying it, by doing so myself;" — and imme- 
 diately put into the hands of the grateful and astonished 
 captive poet a Bank-note for 50/. 
 
 The face, figure, and personal character, of Quin, are 
 exquisitely perpetuated in a picture by Gainsborough, 
 now in the possession of John Wiltshire, Esq., at Shock- 
 erwick, near Bath. Seldom have the mimic powers of 
 the pencil been more skilfully and forcibly exercised 
 than on this occasion. It is a portrait of great merit, 
 and in future times will rank with the works of Rem- 
 brandt, Titian, and Reynolds. 
 
 Sarah Fielding. Ob. 1768. — This lady, sister to 
 the celebrated author of " Tom Jones," obtained consi- 
 derable fame as the writer of " The Adventures of David 
 Simple, in search of a Faithful Friend." She published 
 an additional volume in 1752, which was never popular. 
 Her principal literary work was " Xenophon's Memoirs 
 of Socrates, with the Defence of Socrates before his 
 Judges, translated from the original Greek." In this 
 undertaking she was assisted by Mr. James Harris, of 
 Salisbury, to whom she was indebted for some valuable 
 notes. Mrs. Fielding died unmarried, at Bath, in April 
 1768: vide page 109. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 147 
 
 Samuel Derrick. Ob. 17G9. — He was born in 
 Ireland, in 1724, and although from personal appearance 
 and other deficiencies but little qualified for the office, he 
 had the address to be chosen Master of the Ceremonies 
 at Bath, in 1764, on the resignation of Mr. Collett, who 
 had succeeded Beau Nash. He had been in the army, 
 but afterwards supported himself by writing for the book- 
 sellers. He was author of several works, and translated 
 others from the French, among which w r as Bergerac's 
 " Voyage to the Moon," published in 1753. In 1755 he 
 produced a translation in English verse, of the " Third 
 Satire of Juvenal," in quarto*. The " View of the 
 Stage," which appeared in 1759, under the name of 
 Wilkes, was written by Derrick; and in 1762, he pub- 
 lished an edition of " Drydens Poetical Works, with a 
 Life and Notes," in four volumes, 8vo ; but this, though 
 neatly printed, was not successful. He also supplied 
 
 * In Nichols's " Literary Anecdotes," vol. ii. p. 371, is a playful letter 
 from David Mallet to Derrick, who was then in Dublin, in December 
 1760. The following are passages : — " I have seen your Translation of 
 Juvenal, and like it : it has been spoken well of by many persons of 
 taste : but I fear you will find it hard to convert reputation into profit. 
 Praise is a good sauce for a dinner ; and when a Poet has dined heartily, 
 he can reflect with pleasure on his rising fame : I am told you have this 
 satisfaction often at Lord Shannon's table." Mallet afterwards advises him 
 to secure the patronage of Lord Shannon, and the Lord Primate, whose 
 acquaintance gave him " a fair opportunity to elude the farther influ- 
 ence of evil fortune," and raise himself " above a state of dependence 
 and attendance." He continues : — " The road is open, the view clear : 
 a living in the Church will handsomely terminate the prospect. The 
 Church-livings in Ireland are very comfortable. In Roman Catholic- 
 countries, it is usual for the unfortunate to take refuge in the Church. 
 This practice is not confined solely to foreign countries : there have 
 been instances of gentlemen, who have here taken the air on Hounslow- 
 heath, exchanging the pistol for the gown. Thus have they eluded the 
 vigilance of the centries, found a snug sanctuary in the Church, and 
 
148 BATH ABBEY CHURCH, 
 
 Dr. Johnson with the materials for Dryden's Life in the 
 English Poets ; and he appears, from Boswell's account, 
 to have been on friendly, if not familiar, terms with that 
 great moralist. Johnson, however, entertained but a 
 low opinion of his general abilities, for in a conversation 
 with Boswell, in which the latter had remarked that 
 Derrick was " a very poor writer ;" Johnson said — " To 
 be sure, sir, he is ; but you are to consider that his being 
 a literary man has got for him all that he has : it has 
 made him king of Bath ! Sir, he has nothing to say for 
 himself, but that he is a writer. Had he not been a 
 writer, he must have been sweeping the crossings in the 
 streets, and asking halfpence from every body that past*." 
 This caustic severity of expression must have exceeded 
 the truth ; for if Derrick's abilities in literature were suf- 
 ficient to exalt him to the post of Master of the Cere- 
 monies, they would doubtless have obtained for him a 
 
 adorned the Island of Saints. Why should not a fair honest character 
 succeed in your case, as well as daring villainy in those I have men- 
 tioned ? — I remember an old French dancing-master, (an ancient family- 
 piece,) who had long depended upon the late Duke of Dorset for a pro- 
 vision. His Grace was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Monsieur 
 was ordered to follow in his train : various methods of settling him were 
 proposed : all were clogged with insuperable objections, and unsurmount- 
 able difficulties. At last the Church was thought of; and though he 
 knew nothing of Greek, was a stranger to Latin, could not read English, 
 and spoke very bad French, he was thrust into Orders by some obsequious 
 pander to his Grace's will ; and, I am assured, was inducted into a very 
 profitable living." — 
 
 * Boswell's " Life of Dr. Johnson," vol. i. Boswell states that 
 Johnson once said to him : — " Sir, I honour Derrick for his presence of 
 mind. One night, when Floyd, another poor author, [who wrote the 
 Bibliotheca Biographica, &c. 3 vols. 8vo,] was wandering about the streets 
 in the night, he found Derrick fast asleep upon a bulk ; upon being sud- 
 denly waked, Derrick started up, " My dear Floyd, I am sorry to see 
 you in this destitute state ; will you go home with me to my lodgings?" 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 149 
 
 maintenance in other employments, had he thought 
 proper to pursue them. On another occasion, John- 
 son, when speaking of his " Letters from Liverpool, 
 Chester," &c, paid a higher compliment to his literary 
 merit : — " Had they been written," he observed, " by 
 one of a more established name, they would have been 
 thought very pretty Letters." Boswell says, Derrick 
 was his " first tutor in the ways of London," and shewed 
 him "the town, in all its variety of departments, both 
 literary and sportive." 
 
 Derrick's reign at Bath was not a peaceful one. His 
 diminutive figure proved a drawback upon his authority : 
 and although he imitated his predecessor in one external 
 mark, the white hat, he failed in the more essential 
 attributes of office. After his decease, however, on the 
 28th of March, 1769, Bath was the scene of yet greater 
 commotion, for during the ardent struggle for the elec- 
 tion of his successor, the Ball-room became a field of 
 battle, in which the victory was so strenuously disputed, 
 that even the ladies — who, by the bye, are said to have 
 begun the affray — engaged in real combats : nor was it 
 till the deputy town-clerk had read the riot act three 
 times, under the direction of the mayor, that the hostile 
 movements of the warring assembly could be reduced 
 to decent decorum. Sheridan, then at Bath, thus 
 sketches the scene, in a poem called " The Ridotto :" — 
 
 " Fair Nymphs achieve illustrious feats ; 
 Off fly their tuckers, caps, and tetes ; 
 Pins and pomatums strew the room, 
 Emitting many a strange perfume : 
 Each tender form is strangely batter'd, 
 And odd things here and there are scatter 'd. 
 In heaps confus'd the Heroines lie ; 
 With horrid shrieks they pierce the sky : 
 Their charms are lost in scratches — scars — 
 Sad emblems of domestic wars !" 
 
150 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 John Wall, M.D. Ob. 1776. — This gentleman, 
 who was distinguished for his acquirements in various 
 branches of science, was born at Powick, in Worcester- 
 shire, in the year 1708. He was partly educated at the 
 College School, Worcester, of which city his father, an 
 opulent tradesman, was mayor, in 1703. In June 1726, 
 he was elected scholar of Worcester College, Oxford ; 
 and in 1735, chosen fellow of Merton College in that 
 University. He afterwards settled at Worcester in the 
 practice of Physic ; in which art he took his Doctor's 
 degree in 1739. Dying at Bath in his 68th year, on the 
 27th of June, 1776, he was buried in the Abbey Church. 
 He published a " Treatise on the Malvern Waters," 
 which owe a great part of their reputation to his remarks ; 
 and also several valuable tracts, chiefly on medicine : 
 these were collected and printed in 1780, in 8vo, by his 
 son, the late erudite Dr. Martin Wall, F.R.S., Clinical 
 Professor at Oxford. He acquired great eminence in 
 those branches of natural philosophy immediately con- 
 nected with physic and the arts ; and to his assiduous 
 researches, in conjunction with other chymists, to dis- 
 cover proper materials for china-ware, the city of Wor- 
 cester is principally indebted for the establishment of its 
 porcelain manufacture. He is described as skilful in the 
 principles of composition and painting : a specimen of 
 his talents for design is exhibited in the east window of 
 the chapel of Oriel College, Oxford : he also designed 
 the frontispieces to the old edition of " Hervey's Medi- 
 tations," and Cambridge's " Scribleriad." 
 
 Lady Miller. Ob. 1781. — Among those indi- 
 viduals who have contributed to the pleasures of social 
 intercourse shared by the votaries of fashion and fortune 
 at Bath, this lady deserves respectful and distinguished 
 notice. She was the wife of Mr. afterwards Sir John 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 151 
 
 Miller, who for several years resided at a villa which he 
 had built at Bath Easton. Mr. and Mrs. Miller made 
 a tour through several parts of Italy ; and an account 
 of their journey was afterwards published by the latter, 
 in three volumes, octavo. The work, which consists of 
 a series of letters, contains some amusing passages, and 
 much information relative to the arts and manners of 
 the Italians. This lady is, however, chiefly indebted 
 for her celebrity to the Bath Easton " Poetical Amuse- 
 ments, " which were established by her ladyship. 
 
 An antique vase, which had been dug up at Frascati, 
 in Italy, in 1759, and purchased by Mr. Miller, was 
 placed in his villa at Bath Easton, upon a modern altar, 
 decorated with sprigs of laurel, and made the receptacle, 
 at a weekly dies festus, of the poetical productions of the 
 assembled company : every individual being expected 
 to deposit an original composition in verse within the 
 venerable relic. These at first consisted of what the 
 French term bouts rimes, or rhyming terminations, which 
 had been filled up by the candidates for poetical fame ; 
 but, afterwards, of short pieces upon given subjects. 
 The contributions were drawn out singly by a lady, and 
 publicly read, and a committee was nominated to adjudge 
 wreaths of myrtle to the authors of the most eminent 
 of the poems ; who were then crowned by the high 
 priestess (Mrs. Miller) amidst the plaudits of the as- 
 sembly : a substantial collation concluded the gala. 
 This attic pastime continued for several years ; but at 
 length the purity of the sacred vase was sullied by the 
 licentious wit of some unknown wag, whose satirical 
 production, when recited, wounded the delicacy of all 
 the blushing fair ones present, and the meetings were 
 discontinued for ever. Three small volumes, however, 
 of the best effusions thus elicited, were published, at 
 different times, under the title of " Poetical Amusements 
 
152 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 at a Villa near Bath," the profits of which were applied 
 to the Pauper Charity of that city. Among the persons 
 whose compositions contributed to these volumes, were 
 Miss Seward, Anstey, Graves, Garrick, Pratt, Meyler, 
 and some others of literary celebrity. 
 
 Lady Miller was buried in 1781, near the altar in 
 the Abbey Church, where a handsome monument of 
 statuary marble, by the elder Bacon, is raised to her 
 memory : vide page 111. 
 
 Sir William Draper, K.B. Ob. 1787.— He was 
 born in 1721, and after an education at Eton and Cam- 
 bridge, became an officer in the army, and acquired 
 considerable fame by his military exploits in the East 
 Indies. He was engaged with Admiral Cornish in 
 1763, in the reduction of the Spanish settlement at 
 Manilla. On the capture of the fort, Draper, who then 
 held the rank of Colonel, agreed to accept of four mil- 
 lions of dollars, by way of ransom for the place. This 
 money was never paid by the Spanish government ; and 
 on his return to England, becoming a member of Par- 
 liament, he complained loudly of the loss sustained by 
 himself and his comrades, in consequence of the non- 
 payment of what was termed the Manilla ransom. After 
 a time, however, the murmurs of the gallant officer 
 against his own government, and that of Spain, ceased. 
 He was honoured with a red riband, and probably 
 received more substantial tokens of ministerial favour. 
 In 1769, Sir William Draper entered the lists as a 
 public antagonist of the unknown writer of the " Letters 
 of Junius."* In the course of this controversy he dis- 
 
 * The energy, acumen, sarcasm, and political knowledge, displayed 
 in these popular letters, were calculated to rouse public curiosity in an 
 extraordinary degree ; but the unexampled secrecy and mystery attend- 
 ing their publication, and which have continued to shroud their author 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 153 
 
 played more courage than prudence. The motive of his 
 first interference was the defence of the Marquess of 
 Granby ; but he soon became involved in a personal 
 dispute with the soi-disant Junius, which led to a chal- 
 lenge from Sir William ; who in vain endeavoured to 
 provoke his sarcastic adversary to lay aside his mask 
 and give him a meeting. This was not the only alter- 
 cation in which Sir William was engaged. In 1779, 
 when he held the rank of a general officer, he was 
 appointed lieutenant-governor of the island of Minorca. 
 On the surrender of Port Mahon, the capital, he pre- 
 ferred charges against the governor, General Murray ; 
 into whose conduct an inquiry was instituted by a court 
 martial ; but the latter was honourably acquitted, and 
 his accuser required to make him an apology. He died 
 in January 1787, aged 66 : vide p. 112. 
 
 The Rev. Osmund Beauvoir, D.D. Ob. 1789. — 
 Dr. Beauvoir was the son of the Rev. W. Beauvoir, who 
 
 for more than fifty years, have perhaps given them more notoriety than 
 would ever have arisen from their inherent merits. Many attempts have 
 been made, by different writers, to unravel the mystic thread, but not 
 one has accomplished the task : at least the public still require more 
 satisfactory evidence, to identify the author. Averse to political con- 
 troversy, and hostile as I hope ever to be to party disputation, I have 
 neglected to prosecute an inquiry which was commenced about fifteen 
 years ago, — and which, had it been then pursued, I am confident 
 would have produced demonstration in the place of conjecture. — Mr. 
 Morris, who retired to Box — Dr. Popham, who lived at Lacock — 
 Colonel Barre, Counsellor Dunning, Lord Ashburton, and William, 
 Marquess of Lansdown, were acquainted with some of the secrets of 
 " Junius;" and one, at least, of the above-named persons, was privy 
 to the whole correspondence : 
 
 " Stat nominis umbra." 
 
154 EATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 was descended from a French family, long settled in the 
 county of Kent. He held successively several prefer- 
 ments in the church ; and at length was made one of 
 the Six Preachers of Canterbury cathedral. He was 
 also Head Master of the Free Grammar School at Can- 
 terbury. Mr. Hasted says — " Of the masters who 
 have presided over this school, many have been men 
 of eminence as clergymen and scholars. One of them 
 I can mention of my own knowledge, and whoever knew 
 him will join in this tribute to his memory. I mean the 
 Rev. Dr. O. Beauvoir, late Head Master of it, first 
 educated here, and afterwards of St. John's College, in 
 Cambridge, whose great abilities brought this school to 
 the highest degree of estimation ; who united the gentle- 
 man with the scholar ; one whose eminent qualifications 
 and courtesy of manners, gained him the esteem and 
 praise of all who knew him*." 
 
 In 1784, Dr. Beauvoir was elected F.S.A. ; and he 
 occasionally communicated articles of curiosity to the 
 Society. Though a man of talents and learning, his 
 literary labours were not very important. He afforded 
 some assistance to Mr. Gosling, in his " Walk through 
 Canterbury," and the description of the great painted 
 window in that work, at the north end of the west 
 transept in Canterbury Cathedral, was written by him. 
 He also communicated to Dr. Maclaine the correspond- 
 ence of Archbishop Wake with some of the Doctors of 
 the Sorbonne, relative to a scheme of union between the 
 English and Gallican churches ; which partly originated 
 with the father of Dr. Beauvoir. These interesting 
 letters were published by Dr. Maclaine, in his transla- 
 tion ofMosheim's "Ecclesiastical Historyf." He died 
 
 * See Nichols's " Literary Anecdotes," vol. ix. p. 352. f Ibid. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 155 
 
 at Bath, July 1, 1789; and was interred in the south 
 aile of the Abbey Church. 
 
 Thomas Postlewaite, D.D. Ob. 1798. — He was 
 a native of Lancaster, and educated at Cambridge, in 
 which University he succeeded Dr. Hinchcliffe, as 
 Master of Trinity College, in 1789. Although ac- 
 counted one of the ablest mathematicians in the Uni- 
 versity, his only publication was a " Sermon" on the 
 7th chap, of Isaiah, verses 14, 15, and 16, which 
 was preached in two parts at St. Mary's Church, in 
 December 1780. He died at Bath, aged 67, on the 
 4th of May, 1798, having previously bequeathed 2000/. 
 and some books, to his College. 
 
 William Melmoth, Esq. Ob. 1799. — This elegant 
 translator of the Epistles of Cicero and Pliny, was the 
 son of a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, who was distin- 
 guished as the author of " The Great Importance of 
 a Religious Life ;" a small publication which passed 
 through numerous editions. The son, who was born 
 in 1710, and brought up to the legal profession, was 
 made a commissioner of Bankrupts in 1756. Having 
 a fortune adequate to his wishes, this gentleman during 
 the last forty years of his life employed himself in the 
 study of classical literature ; towards the cultivation of 
 which he contributed, by the publication of an original 
 work, intituled " Letters of the late Sir Thomas Fitz- 
 Osborne, Bart, on Several Subjects," 1748, 8vo; as well 
 as by his excellent translations of some of the letters 
 and dialogues of Cicero, and of the letters of Pliny the 
 younger. After residing for some time at Shrewsbury, 
 he removed to Bath, where he continued till his decease 
 
156 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 in 1799. He was buried at Bath Easton ; but a tablet 
 to his memory has been erected in the Abbey Church. 
 
 Besides the publications already mentioned, Mr. Mel- 
 moth wrote several poems, which appeared in Dodsley's 
 and Pearch's Collections ; and he closed his literary 
 career by a tribute to the memory of his father, intituled, 
 " Memoirs of a late eminent Advocate, and a Member 
 of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn:" 1796, 8vo. 
 The worth and talents of this gentleman excited the fol- 
 lowing encomium from a celebrated satirist of the last 
 century. " William Melmoth, Esq., a most elegant and 
 distinguished writer, ' near half an age with every good 
 man's praise.' His translations of Cicero and Pliny will 
 speak for him while Roman and English eloquence can 
 be united. Mr. Melmoth is a happy example of the 
 mild influence of learning on a cultivated mind ; I mean 
 of that learning which is declared to be the aliment of 
 youth, and the delight and consolation of declining years. 
 Who would not envy this ' fortunate old man' his most 
 finished Translation and Comment on Tully's Cato ? or 
 rather who would not rejoice in the refined and mel- 
 lowed pleasures of so accomplished a gentleman and so 
 liberal a scholar * ?" For his epitaph, see page 113. 
 
 John Sibthorp, M.D., F.R.S. Ob. 1800.— This 
 learned physician was celebrated for his laborious exer- 
 tions to improve the science of Botany. After passing 
 through his preliminary studies at home, he visited France 
 and Italy ; and on his return was honoured with the Pro- 
 fessorship of Botany, at Oxford, which his father, also a 
 
 * " Pursuits of Literature," part iv. p. 89. Notes. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 157 
 
 physician, resigned in his favour. In 1786, Dr. Sibthorp 
 left England on a tour through Greece, in the course of 
 which he accumulated a great number of specimens of 
 rare and curious plants. Such was his zeal for the 
 advancement of his favourite science, that notwithstand- 
 ing the delicate state of his health, he undertook another 
 voyage to Greece in 1794. In the course of both these 
 journeys he made collections for a splendid work on the 
 plants of Greece, intituled, " Flora Graeca." On his 
 last tour, Dr. Sibthorp was seized with a severe pulmonary 
 complaint, which obliged him to return to his native 
 country ; and he became a resident at Bath, where he 
 died, in 1800. His premature death prevented him from 
 methodising and preparing for publication the stores of 
 scientific information which he had drawn together. That 
 the fruits of his labours might not be lost, he left an estate 
 to the University of Oxford, the product of which was to 
 be applied to defray the expense of arranging and pub- 
 lishing the Flora Gr<zca ; and the surplus was to be 
 devoted to the endowment of a professorship of Rural 
 Economy. His ". Flora Oxoniensis " was published in 8vo, 
 in 1794: vide page 115. 
 
 Rev. John Howlett, A.B. Ob. 1804. — This gentle- 
 man was the author of several valuable tracts on dif- 
 ferent branches of Political Economy ; as waste lands, 
 enclosures, population, poor, tithes, &c. At the time 
 of his decease, at Bath, on February the 25th, 1804, he 
 was Vicar of the Parishes of Great Dunmow and Great 
 Baddow, in Essex. 
 
 Archibald Maclaine, D.D. Ob. 1804. — This 
 learned divine was born at Monaclan, in Ireland, in 1722. 
 
158 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 He spent the principal part of his life in a foreign country, 
 but rendered an important service to English literature, 
 by his well-known translation of Mosheim's " Ecclesi- 
 astical History." Dr. Maclaine was educated at the 
 University of Glasgow, and being frustrated in an attempt 
 to obtain episcopal ordination at home, he accepted an 
 invitation to become the successor of his uncle, Dr. 
 Milling, pastor of an English church at the Hague. In 
 that situation he remained till 1794, when the hostile 
 progress of the revolutionary army of the French Re- 
 public in the Dutch territories, rendered it prudent for 
 this venerable divine to return to England. He settled 
 at Bath, where he continued to reside till the time of his 
 death, November the 25th, 1804. 
 
 Besides the translation of Mosheim's historical work, 
 Dr. Maclaine published, in 1777, a Series of Letters, 
 addressed to Soame Jenyns, Esq., containing observa- 
 tions on the celebrated treatise written by that gentle- 
 man, on " the Internal Evidence of the Christian Re- 
 ligion." He was also understood to have supplied the 
 editor of the Monthly Review, for many years, with 
 articles relating to foreign literature. 
 
 A high and well-deserved character of Dr. Maclaine, 
 is given in Nichols's " Literary Anecdotes," (vol. ii. 
 p. 451,) where also it is mentioned that " he was brother 
 to the person who went by the name of ' The Gentleman 
 Highwayman,' who had been a grocer in Welbeck-street, 
 and was executed at Tyburn, Oct. 3, 1752, attended by 
 Dr. Allen, a Presbyterian minister, who published an 
 account of his behaviour." Some general particulars of 
 Dr. Maclaine's life have been published by the Rev. R. 
 Warner, in an Appendix to a Letter to the Lord Bishop 
 of Gloucester, H On the Admission to Holy Orders of 
 Young Men holding Evangelical Principles," 8vo, 1818; 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 159 
 
 in which he gives the following discriminating summary 
 of his character: — "Wise, without austerity; deeply 
 learned, without arrogance ; sincerely pious, without 
 ostentation ; of refined wit, untinctured with severity ; 
 of polished manners, unsophisticated by affectation ; of 
 warm benevolence and lively sensibility, but cool in 
 judgment, and unbending in principle : he lived much 
 in the world without being injured by its vices, or in- 
 fected with its follies ; and confuted by a visible proof, 
 the unsoundness of that paradox of the ingenious author 
 against whom he exercised his pen, (Soame Jenyns,) that 
 the religion of Jesus Christ cannot go hand in hand with 
 secular business, worldly intercourse, and rational social 
 enjoyment." His epitaph, vide p. 115, is said to have 
 been written by his friend, the Rev. John Simpson*. 
 
 Thomas Pownall, Esq., F.R.S., and F.A.S., ob. 
 1805 ; usually termed Governor Pownall, from the cir- 
 cumstance of his having been Governor of some of the 
 North American colonies ; was born at Lincoln, in 1722. 
 In 1761, being recalled from America, he was appointed 
 Director-General of the office of Control, in Germany, 
 with the rank of Colonel in the army. Whilst in that 
 situation he was charged with malversation in regard to a 
 purchase of oats, at Bremen ; but after an inquiry, insti- 
 tuted by the Lords of the Treasury, the charge appeared 
 to be unfounded, and his accuser, Mr. John Guest, In- 
 spector of the Magazines in Germany, was dismissed 
 from his situation. In 1768, he became a Member of 
 the House of Commons, where he distinguished himself 
 
 * Warner's Letter : the Biographical Sketch of Dr. Maclaine given 
 in that letter, was copied into the Gentleman's Magazine for August 
 and September 1818. 
 
160 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 by his opposition to the war with America. He was 
 attached to literary pursuits, and was a frequent contri- 
 butor to the Archaeological volumes of the Society of 
 Antiquaries ; of which, as well as of the Royal Society, 
 he was a Fellow. He died at Bath, on the 25th of 
 February, 1805, in his 85th year, of a disease of the 
 heart ; and was buried in conformity to his own direc- 
 tions, in Walcot church, in " an oaken coffin, without 
 ornament or inscription :" but a monument has been 
 raised to his memory in the Abbey Church. His writings 
 are numerous and important : they include various 
 branches of political inquiry, antiquities, and science. 
 
 Christopher Anstey, Esq. Ob. 1805. — Whilst 
 polished ease and elegance in colloquial poetry, inter- 
 mingled with the most pointed wit and ingenious spright- 
 liness, shall continue to possess any influence over the 
 social feelings of the human breast, the well-deserved 
 fame of the author of the " New Bath Guide," will 
 flourish in all its pristine raciness. He was the son of 
 the Rev. Dr. Anstey, of Trumpington, near Cambridge, 
 and was born in the year 1724. After commencing his 
 classical studies at Eton, he was elected thence to King's 
 College, Cambridge; and although he acquired no aca- 
 demical honours, he distinguished himself at both semi- 
 naries as an elegant scholar. Unfortunately, however, 
 so far as University distinctions were concerned, he made 
 a speech in the Public Schools that occasioned his rusti- 
 cation ; to which circumstance he thus alludes in the 
 epilogue to the above poem : 
 
 — Of Granta, sweet Granta, where, studious of ease, 
 Seven years did I sleep, and then lost my degrees ! 
 
 The immediate cause of this event were the words, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 161 
 
 " Doctores sine doctrind, magistri artium sine artibus, et 
 huccalauri baculo potius quam lauro digni," &c. with 
 which he began his speech, and which originated in the 
 umbrage he had taken at some unfairness of treatment 
 on the part of his superiors. 
 
 After quitting College he went into the army, and 
 having married into the family of Caivert, the cele- 
 brated brewer, he fixed his residence at Bath, his first 
 house being in the Royal Crescent. This locality 
 brought him into close contact with the numerous vo- 
 taries of folly and fashion, who flocked to this city, and 
 from whose general manners and conduct he drew the 
 admirable sketches which constitute his " Memoirs of 
 the Blunderhead family," in the poetical Bath Guide, 
 which was first published in 1765. Many editions of 
 this admirable composition have issued from the press ; 
 but it is remarkable that the author never attached his 
 name to any of them. The rich vein of original humour, 
 the playful wit, keen irony, and shrewd discernment, 
 so remarkably displayed in this poem, blended with the 
 most beautiful classic allusions, and apt similies ; and 
 modulated by harmonious versification, have extended 
 its popularity far beyond the common period of local and 
 satirical productions : and its fame will still endure ; 
 notwithstanding that, in one or two instances, the writer, 
 by following too closely the enthusiastic language of the 
 Methodists, has been betrayed into a vivid fervour of 
 expression that raises the blush on the cheek of beauty, 
 and is offensive to the delicate mind. 
 
 In 1767, Mr. Anstey produced his "Monody on the 
 Death of the Marquis of Tavistock," father of the late 
 Duke of Bedford ; which is written in blank verse, with 
 much tenderness and pathos. He was also one of the 
 earliest contributors to the poetical Vase at Lady Miller's ; 
 
 M 
 
162 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 and in reply to some scurrilous strictures on the amuse- 
 ments at her hospitable villa, which appeared at Bath 
 under the signatures of Regulus, Toby, Caesar, &c. he 
 published, in 1774, a strong philippic against " anony- 
 mous assassins," intituled " The Priest Dissected," &c, 
 
 4 to., addressed to the Rev. Mr. , whom he conceived 
 
 to be the author of the lampoons in question. In 1776, 
 the flow and elegance of his Latinity were made evident 
 by a comic satire addressed to his ingenious friend, 
 C. W. Bamfylde, of Hestercombe, in Somersetshire,* 
 on the humours of an " Election Ball" This he soon 
 afterwards translated into the Somersetshire dialect, and 
 next into plain English, in the manner of the Bath 
 Guide. 
 
 Mr. Anstey wrote various other poems besides those 
 already mentioned ; and also numerous jeux (V esprit at 
 different times : he likewise translated several of Gay's 
 Fables into Latin verse ; and in the very evening of his 
 days, in the eightieth year of his age, addressed an 
 elegant Latin Alcaic Ode to Dr. Jenner, on the subject 
 of Vaccine Inoculation, in which he very feelingly al- 
 ludes to the ravages made by the " foul pest" in his 
 own family. 
 
 Whilst Mr. Anstey resided in the Crescent, it was 
 in contemplation by the proprietor of the ground-rents 
 to convert the lawn-like fields in front of the houses into 
 a kitchen-garden ; but this profanation of good taste was 
 prevented by the judicious ridicule of Anstey 's muse, in 
 a pleasing " Ode, on an Early View of the Crescent," 
 
 * The grounds and woods at Hestercombe are celebrated for their 
 beauty. The figure of a painted Witch, in a hermitage, elicited the fol- 
 lowing compliment from the pen of the late Dr. Langhorne :-- 
 
 " O'er Bamfylde s woods, by various nature grae'd, 
 A Witch presides; but then that Witch is Taste!" 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 163 
 
 in which every stanza was ended by the words "Sir 
 Peter Rivers Gay." The mania for building, however, 
 afterwards deprived our poet of a favourite spot of 
 ground which he had cultivated. To dissipate or record 
 his chagrin he produced this epigram : 
 
 " Ye men of Bath who stately mansions rear, 
 To wait for tenants from the devil knows where, 
 Would you pursue a plan which cannot fail, 
 Erect a mad-house, and enlarge your jail." 
 
 Mr. Anstey died at Harnish, or Hardenhuish, in 
 Wiltshire, at the seat of his son-in-law, Henry Bosan- 
 quet, Esq., on the 3d of August, 1805: he being then 
 in his 81st year. He was interred in Walcot church, 
 Bath ; but an inscribed tablet to his memory has been 
 erected in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, and 
 another in this church. His poetical works, with some 
 account of his life and writings, were published in a 
 quarto volume, in 1810, by his son, John Anstey, Esq. 
 a Barrister, whose " Pleader's Guide" proves him to in- 
 herit no inconsiderable portion of the talents of his 
 father; who, as we learn from a passage in his " Priest 
 Dissected," had 
 
 " Ten sweet pledges of connubial joys." 
 
 Walsh Porter, Esq. Ob. 1809. — This gentleman 
 was distinguished for his attachment to literature and 
 the fine arts : and left ample memorials of his taste by 
 the collection of pictures formed by himself. His dra- 
 matic productions have merit. He died very suddenly, 
 at Dawlish Villa, his residence near Bath, in May 1809 ; 
 in consequence of the bursting, as supposed, of an 
 abscess in his liver, which had been long diseased. A 
 tablet to his memory, (with others to some of his rela- 
 
164 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 tives,) is attached to the north wall of the nave in the 
 Abbey Church, where he was interred. 
 
 Sigxor Venanzio Rauzzini. Ob. 1810. — The 
 union of professional excellence, with amiable manners 
 and integrity of conduct, cannot fail of securing to the 
 enviable possessor the sincere esteem of all private 
 associates, as well as the general approbation of the 
 public. Such an union existed in Rauzzini; a man 
 pre-eminent as a musical preceptor and performer, but 
 still more estimable as a friend or familiar acquaintance. 
 Those who knew him best, esteemed him most. As 
 there was neither art nor duplicity in his disposition, 
 his natural character was soon perceived, and as soon 
 beloved. Of such a man it cannot be uninteresting to 
 detail a few biographical particulars. 
 
 Venanzio Rauzzini was a native of Rome. At an 
 early age he displayed so decided a fondness for music, 
 that his parents were induced to educate him for that 
 profession. He was accordingly placed under the tuition 
 of a friar, who had no voice or power of singing himself, 
 but, from his acquaintance with the theory of music, was 
 a good teacher. He quitted Rome while young ; yet 
 such was his genius and application, that we are told, 
 even then, " he was so well practised in singing, and in 
 the general knowledge of music, that he could take up 
 the most difficult composition, reverse the page as he 
 held it before him, and not only read the notes thus 
 inverted, but in that state sing the air at sight, with the 
 most perfect correctness of time and intonation*." He 
 afterwards travelled into Germany, and while still in 
 early youth, was engaged as principal singer at the 
 
 * " Monthly Mirror, New Series," vol. i. p. 227. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 165 
 
 Opera at Vienna. At that period he was favoured with 
 the friendship of Metastasio, who took much pleasure 
 in his company. His musical talents and knowledge 
 speedily attracted the public attention ; and he became 
 the idol of the cognoscenti, the favourite of princes, and 
 the delight of all who heard him*. 
 
 From Vienna, Rauzzini removed to Munich and 
 entered into the service of the Elector of Bavaria. 
 During his residence at Munich, where he continued 
 several years, Dr. Burney visited that capital, and had 
 repeated opportunities of witnessing his powers. In his 
 Musical Tour, the Dr. says, " The first singer in the 
 Serious Opera here, is Signor Rauzzini, a young Roman 
 performer of singular merit, who has been six years in 
 the service of this court, but is engaged to sing in an 
 
 * " The enthusiasm of the people in his favour is evinced by the fol- 
 lowing anecdote, which furnishes one more fact in addition to the nu- 
 merous instances of the power of song. At the Opera at Vienna, it is. 
 contrary to the usual decorum of the place, and to the order of the court, 
 for the persons in the pit to give, in the presence of the Emperor, public 
 and vociferous applause to a performer : but on the first night of Rauz- 
 zini's appearance, when he concluded a song in which he had displayed 
 his full powers, the audience, with one consent, joined in a universal 
 cry of bravo. The fashionable decencies were violated, the court was 
 offended, placards were affixed to the avenues of the theatre and in the 
 conspicuous parts of the house, complaining of the impropriety of these 
 proceedings, and strictly enjoining the discontinuance of similar applause 
 for the future ; and to enforce the Imperial mandate, additional guards 
 were placed in the pit. Rauzzini appeared a second time — a second 
 time he was applauded by the pit : the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, 
 and the men vociferated bravo to the very echo that redoubled their 
 applause. Whether the court submitted to the popular voice, and re- 
 scinded the edict, or continued to impose the duty of mute approbation 
 to vocal excellence, we know not ; but of the fact we are well assured, 
 and it is curious." — " Monthly Mirror," vol. i. p. 228. 
 
166 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Opera composed by young Mozart, at the next carnival 
 at Milan. He is not only a charming singer, a pleasing 
 figure, and a good actor, but a more excellent contra- 
 puntist and performer on the harpsichord than a singer 
 is usually allowed to be, as all kind of application to the 
 harpsichord or composition is supposed by the Italians 
 to be prejudicial to the voice. Signor Rauzzini has set 
 two or three comic operas here, which have been very 
 much approved ; and he shewed and sung to me several 
 airs of a serious cast, that were well written, and in an 
 exquisite taste." In another place, he says — " Rauz- 
 zini had, in an obliging manner, thrown himself in the 
 Elector's way, on purpose to be asked to sing, that 
 I might hear him, which I had expressed a great desire 
 to do, with a band : for though he is first singer at the 
 Serious Opera, in winter, yet he never performs at the 
 summer concerts unless particularly desired." 
 
 In 1774 Rauzzini came to England, and was engaged 
 as one of the principal singers at the Opera-house. He 
 soon attained great eminence both as a singer and an 
 actor. Garrick, who witnessed his performance of 
 Montezuma, in the opera of that title, was so capti- 
 vated by his abilities, that he ran behind the scenes, 
 and catching Rauzzini in his arms, embraced him with 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 Among his principal works are the operas of Pyramo 
 e Tisbe, UAli (CAmore, L'Eroe Cinese, Creusa in Delfo, 
 La Regina di Golconda, and La Vestale. He composed 
 with great facility. The opera of Pyramus and Thisbe 
 was finished in three weeks ; and another piece, which 
 was not begun till Sunday evening, was performed at 
 a public concert on the "Wednesday following. Such 
 was the opinion entertained of Rauzzini's talents, not only 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 167 
 
 as a singer, but also as an actor, that he was compli- 
 mented with the title of " the Italian Garrick." 
 
 Notwithstanding his great success, he left the stage 
 at an early period, in consequence of peculiar and un- 
 conquerable sensibility ; as he never made his appear- 
 ance as a public performer without feeling considerable 
 trepidation. He retired to Bath, and commenced as 
 Professor of music, and also entered into a connexion 
 with La Motte as Director of the public concerts. The 
 imprudence of his coadjutor soon obliged him to with- 
 draw from the management of the undertaking; and 
 Rauzzini was left sole conductor of the musical exhi- 
 bitions at Bath. This station he filled for thirty years, 
 much to the satisfaction of the company to whose 
 amusement he contributed. The following observations 
 coincide with the general opinion which was entertained 
 of the liberality and professional ability displayed by 
 Rauzzini, in the direction of the public concerts, and as 
 the cherisher of musical genius : — " Of this man, though 
 barely to make mention be sufficient for fame, the grate- 
 ful sentiments of every child of music will, we believe, 
 start forward to accompany us, while we offer a passing 
 tribute to his character. Rauzzini, long since possessed 
 of the favour of the public as a singer, and conspicuous 
 as a composer, preferring the retirement of Bath, and 
 giving celebrity to the little adjacent hill of Hanging- 
 Land*, appears in the fair horizon of that city as the 
 inspiring genius of melody ; and in her musical orgies, 
 he is her ministering priest. Accomplished in all the 
 learning and all the graces of his art, he imparts the 
 light of his mind to every professional student whom a 
 requisite degree of talent entitles to seek his assistance. 
 
 * Here Rauzzini had a country house called Perry-Mead Villa, 
 which was his summer residence. 
 
168 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 His house is by degrees become a kind of musical 
 Lyceum ; and a singer untutored by Rauzzini appears 
 but half accomplished. In fact the most eminent among 
 the favourites of the public, of the present moment, are 
 found in the list of his scholars. To the improvement 
 acquired at his lyceum, the singular liberality of the 
 master's disposition has moreover appended advantages 
 seldom attendant on other schools. Without any 
 greater resources of fortune than those which the emi- 
 nence of his talents lays open to him, he receives and 
 entertains in his hospitable mansion those very students 
 who come to him for the purpose of profiting by his 
 instructions. Every professional person finds a home 
 at Rauzzini's. After what has been related, it is almost 
 unnecessary to say that he is as beloved as he is re- 
 spected, and is no less the delight than the ornament 
 of the class to which he belongs*." 
 
 Signor Rauzzini died in 1810, at the age of 62, at 
 his residence in Gay Street, Bath. The funeral honours 
 bestowed on him evinced the great respect in which his 
 character was generally held. At his interment, in the 
 Abbey Church, a select number of his musical friends, 
 including Mr. Braham, appeared as mourners ; and a 
 numerous and respectable body of gentlemen made 
 a part of the funeral procession. 
 
 The fame acquired by several of the pupils of Rauz- 
 zini is highly honourable to the skill of their preceptor. 
 Among them were Madame Mara, Mrs. Billington, 
 Signora Storace, Mrs. Mountain, Mr. Braham, and 
 Mr. Incledon. 
 
 None of Rauzzini's pupils were treated with more 
 attention, or better recompensed the exertions of their 
 
 ' " Monthly Mirror," vol. xvi. for July, 1803, p. 6. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 169 
 
 instructor, than Mr. Braham. That gentleman was ar- 
 ticled to Rauzzini for three years ; and residing in his 
 house, experienced from him many marks of friendly and 
 almost paternal kindness. At the first interview, the in- 
 structor requested the musical tyro to sing, and accom- 
 panied him on the piano -forte. With diffidence and 
 trepidation the young scholar went through the piece. 
 Rauzzini closed the instrument in silence — paused ; and 
 at length turning round, said — " Dat vill do — Master 
 Braham vill make de first rate singer. Ve vill dine to- 
 gedder, and talk about songs." Under such a master, 
 we cannot doubt but the current of time ran smooth*. 
 The period of tuition soon passed away ; leaving in the 
 breasts of each an esteem for the other, which lasted 
 during the life of the master, and since his death has been 
 manifested by the pupil, by raising, in conjunction with 
 Signora Storace, a neat sepulchral tablet to his memory, 
 near the place of interment, with an inscription from the 
 pen of Dr. Harington ; in which his professional abilities, 
 characteristic deportment, and liberality of sentiment, 
 are duly commemorated. 
 
 Enough has already been related to illustrate the 
 musical genius and ability of Rauzzini, and to prove the 
 general excellence of his private character. A few anec- 
 dotes may be added, to shew the peculiar playfulness of 
 his disposition. A female pupil, in rehearsing the sacred 
 song of Handel, " Pious orgies, pious airs," dwelt so long 
 on the first syllable pi, that Rauzzini exclaimed, " Vat 
 pie, mine dear, plum pie or apple pie ?" 
 
 At one of his concerts, a person named Mathews, a 
 
 * As an instance of liberality honourable to both parties, it may be 
 mentioned that Rauzzini often paid Mr. Braham for singing at his con- 
 certs whilst the latter was his pupil ; and Braham, after returning from 
 Italy, sung at Rauzzini's concerts without accepting any compensation. 
 
170 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 butcher, who was chorus-singer, was very desirous to be 
 allowed to sing a solo. But in answer to his troublesome 
 importunities, Rauzzini only said, " Go home, Mr. Mad- 
 due ; go home, and kill von sheep, — go kill de sheep." 
 
 When it was stated before him that Bartleman had 
 not the defects of other singers, he replied, " No; but he 
 has his own." 
 
 An ignorant musician, who had conceived a pique 
 against him, addressed a letter " to Mr. Rauzzini, Sing- 
 ing Master;" to which Rauzzini returned an answer, 
 addressed " Mr. Professor of Music ! ! ! 
 
 Ely Bates, Esq. Ob. 1812. — He was a gentleman 
 of fortune who distinguished himself by defending civil 
 government and religious order, in several respectable 
 publications ; but all of which display a peculiarity of 
 opinion far removed from the common-place arguments 
 of general society. His principal works are, " Chinese 
 Fragments," &c, of which a second edition, enlarged, 
 was published in 1811; " Christian Politics, containing 
 a View of Civil Government, in its Influence on Virtue 
 and Happiness," &c, in four parts, 1802 — 6; " Rural 
 Philosophy," &c, 1803 : the latter was his most popular 
 production. He died at the age of 68, on the 4th of 
 January, 1812 ; and was buried in the Abbey Church, 
 in the north aile of the choir : for his epitaph, see 
 page 100. 
 
 Henry Harington, M.D. Ob. 1816. — During a 
 long series of years the name of Dr. Harington has been 
 closely interwoven both with the medical and musical 
 annals of this city ; with which, indeed, his ancestors 
 have been historically connected from the period of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 171 
 
 Henry the Eighth's reign. He was immediately de- 
 scended from the Sir John Harington, knt., of Kelston, 
 to whose solicitude for the restoration of the Abbey 
 Church, Bath is so greatly indebted; and of whose su- 
 perior intellectual attainments we have such decided 
 proofs in the " Nugcz Antique?" and other works. 
 
 Dr. Harington was born at Kelston, on Michaelmas- 
 day, 1727 : he received his education partly at home, 
 under the tuition of the late Rev. Dr. Fothergill, and 
 partly at Queen's College, Oxford ; where, in the year 
 1762, he took the degree of Doctor of Physic. He had 
 been originally destined for the church, but about the 
 time of receiving his Bachelor's degree, in 1748, he de- 
 clined taking orders. After quitting Oxford, and uniting 
 himself in marriage with the accomplished Miss Meadows, 
 he began to practise as a Physician at Wells ; but in a 
 few years he removed to Bath, where he continued to 
 reside till his decease, on January the 15th, 1816, in his 
 89th year : a long time previously to which he had been 
 quite blind. 
 
 The talents and acquirements of this gentleman were 
 multifarious. To considerable knowledge of his pro- 
 fession he added an intimate acquaintance with classical 
 literature and Latin composition, great skill as a musical 
 composer, much taste and feeling as a poet, and an inti- 
 mate knowledge of the mathematical sciences and me- 
 chanic arts. Music, however, was his favourite pursuit ; 
 and the " Harmonic Society" at Bath, is indebted to 
 him, and to the Rev. Mr. Bowen, for its origin, on the 
 ruins of the " Catch Club," in 1795. The urbanity of 
 his manners, the ease and freedom of his deportment, 
 and the pleasing mildness of his address, rendered him a 
 most agreeable companion ; whilst the stores of anecdote 
 
172 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 and the remarks of experience which he poured forth in 
 conversation, equally delighted and instructed his auditors. 
 
 Among the prose works of Dr. Harington, is a " Trea- 
 tise on the Use and Abuse of Music ;" and a curious 
 tract, intituled " stmboaon TPisAnoN, or the Geometri- 
 cal Analogy of the Catholic Doctrine of Trinity consonant 
 to Human Reason and Comprehension ; " Typically 
 Demonstrated and Exemplified by the Natural Indivisible 
 Trinity of Simultaneous Sounds," &c, published in 1806. 
 Of his poetical pieces, the humorous ballad called the 
 " Witch of Wokey," is probably the best known; but 
 there are numerous lesser effusions, of varied degrees of 
 merit, and deserving of much praise. His musical com- 
 positions are many and various ; from the light and 
 laughable catch, to the sublime anthem. 
 
 His productions are characterised by originality and 
 elegance, which could result only from a refined taste 
 and powerful attainments. The " Eloi, or Last Words 
 of our Blessed Saviour on the Cross*," which is inscribed 
 
 * This fine composition, arranged for three voices, gave rise, on its 
 
 first performance, to an attack by Dr. G , of a fashionable Chapel 
 
 at Bath, on the author ; who was arraigned, both for his presumption in 
 -setting such words to music, and for his yet greater impropriety in suf- 
 fering his music to be performed at a place of public entertainment. 
 Dr. Harington, however, was warmly defended in the Bath Papers, by 
 different friends. He afterwards composed, as a companion to the 
 " Eloi," our Saviour's " Prayer" in the Garden of Gethsemane, which 
 was sung by the late Mr. Harrison, the only time it was performed in 
 public. These pieces are at once simple and sublime, and admirably 
 calculated to excite and increase devotion in all lovers of sacred music. 
 The " Eloi," produced a most friendly and flattering letter from the late 
 Dr. Burney. It is always sung on Good Friday, at the Abbey, and at 
 several other churches at Bath ; and is also introduced in the Oratorio 
 of the Messiuh, when performed in this city. Dr. Harington published 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 173 
 
 upon his monument in the Abbey Church, was com- 
 posed at the age of three-score and ten. His monument 
 was erected by subscription ; and the following pleasing 
 lines were written by the late Archdeacon Thomas, (who 
 married Dr. Harington's daughter,) on hearing that the 
 inhabitants of Bath intended thus to honour his memory : 
 
 " Belov'd, rever'd, and mourn'd, adieu ! 
 Thy praise let grateful Baden tell ; 
 With conscious pride, to virtue true, 
 Whilst timidly I touch the shell. 
 
 " Unknown thy bright meridian blaze, — 
 Thy setting radiance shone on me ; 
 Reflected long — those parting rays 
 
 Shall warm the heart that honour'd thee. 
 
 f* Religion, Science, Taste, combine, 
 Thy votive Tablet high to rear : 
 The humble privilege be mine. 
 
 With ling'ring steps to wander near. 
 
 " To think, as length of days was given, 
 You honour'd lived, lamented died ; 
 Each day still brought you nearer Heav'n, 
 Your faith matur'd, your virtue tried. 
 
 " To weep, — but not for you to mourn, 
 Your race is run, your crown is sure ; 
 To tremble, bending o'er your urn, 
 Lest I should deem myself secure." 
 
 it himself; he likewise published three Collections of Songs, Glees, 
 Elegies, and Canons : a fourth Collection has been published by his 
 daughter, the widow of the late Archdeacon Thomas. Among these 
 compositions are the popular favourites of " How great is the Pleasure;" 
 " Give me the sweet Delights of Love ;" " Turn Fair Clora ;" " The 
 Yawning Catch ;" " The Quakers' Catch ;" " The Laughing Catch ;" 
 " Sing Old Rose, and burn the Bellows ;" " Old Thomas Day ;" " The 
 Alderman's Thumb;" " The Stammering Glee," &c. ; an " Introductory 
 Glee," composed for the Harmonic Society, and afterwards published 
 singly ; a " Grace before Dinner or Supper ;" and a " Glee to be sung 
 after the King's Health." 
 
174 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 John Palmer, Esq. M.P. Ob. 1818. — Whilst in- 
 tellectual capacity, mental application, and persevering 
 ardour, shall continue to be thought deserving of fame 
 and honourable distinction, the name of John Palmer 
 will not only be ranked in the highest class of the native 
 citizens of Bath, but esteemed worthy also of being 
 enrolled among the most eminent benefactors to his 
 country ; for the great reform introduced by that gentle- 
 man into the Post-office department, and the victory he 
 achieved by securing its final ajid successful adoption, 
 have been the means both of augmenting the revenue, 
 and of extending the mercantile and commercial interests 
 of Britain, in a very astonishing degree. 
 
 Mr. Palmer was born at Bath, in the year 1742 ; his 
 father was a respectable and affluent brewer in that city, 
 and his mother a descendant of the Longs, one of the 
 most ancient families in the county of Wilts. His early 
 education was imparted at a small academy at Colerne ; 
 from which he was removed to the Free- Grammar School 
 at Marlborough ; his family having designed him for the 
 Church, and there being some valuable scholarships and 
 exhibitions attached to the latter seminary, which it was 
 thought might aid (on more easy termsj the prosecution 
 of his studies at one of the universities. Though fond of 
 learning, and intended for the Church, he preferred the 
 army, — a destination which his parents would not listen 
 to ; and on his absolute refusal to enter into Holy Orders, 
 he was taken from school, and seated in the counting- 
 house of his father's brewery. For some time the 
 drudgery of business proved irksome ; but one day, after 
 a severe dispute on the martial theme, he sullenly put 
 on a jacket and trowsers, and, going into the brewery, 
 began to labour like a common servant. This course he 
 pursued for nearly a year, labouring and faring exactly 
 like the other workmen ; but at length his health sue- 
 
P.IOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 175 
 
 cumbed to his spirits, and a physician and change of air 
 were recommended as necessary to arrest the progress of 
 an incipient consumption. 
 
 Returning to Bath, his pursuits were directed into a 
 channel more agreeable to the bent of his inclinations. 
 His father, in conjunction with nine other inhabitants of 
 the city, had been induced to erect a new Theatre in 
 Orchard Street, on the understanding that the old di- 
 lapidated Playhouse under the Great Ball-room should 
 be applied to some other purpose as soon as the new one 
 was completed ; instead of which, the proprietor re- 
 opened those premises, and a violent opposition taking- 
 place, much loss was experienced by both parties. 
 Eventually the elder Palmer purchased the shares, on 
 easy terms, of all his partners, as well as the interest, 
 by an annuity, of the old house ; and the entire property 
 becoming thus vested in himself, he began to consider 
 of the best means of rendering it most beneficial. 
 
 Theatrical property at that period was even more 
 precarious, in regard to value, than at present ; and 
 especially at Bath, — for the proprietors of the new build- 
 ings, which were at a considerable distance from the 
 old city, were already contemplating the erection of a 
 Theatre in their own neighbourhood. To prevent this, 
 Mr. Palmer petitioned Parliament for an Act to enable 
 His Majesty to grant him a patent; the only patent 
 houses at that time being those of Drury Lane and 
 Covent Garden, and the King being restrained from 
 granting any new patent without the authority of the 
 Legislature. The conduct of this important application, 
 which was warmly supported by the Corporation of 
 Bath, was entrusted to young Palmer; and after sur- 
 mounting many difficulties by his activity and energy, 
 he succeeded in obtaining the Act solicited, which was 
 
176 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 passed in the 8th year of his late Majesty George III., 
 who under that authority immediately granted a patent 
 for the Bath Theatre, whereby it obtained the rank and 
 title of a Theatre Royal. The talents displayed by 
 young Palmer, on this occasion, procured him the es- 
 teem of several distinguished political and theatrical 
 characters, whose friendship proved of great service in 
 the subsequent period of his life*!. 
 
 Without noticing the various undertakings of lesser 
 interest, in which the active nature of this gentleman 
 engaged him at different times, it must suffice for the 
 limited extent of these pages to proceed to that more 
 than Herculean task, which he both devised and executed 
 in the department of the General Post Office ; by establish- 
 ing a complete system of letter carriage by mail coaches, 
 and in consequence a more regular and punctual delivery 
 of letters than had ever been previously contemplated. 
 
 The original idea of this vast improvement is said to 
 have been excited in Mr. Palmer's mind by a social con- 
 veyance, in which he was accustomed to remove his 
 theatrical company to and fro, between Bath and Bristol, 
 on the alternate days of performing in those cities ; and 
 which he frequently remarked, went over the ground 
 with far greater speed than the mail-cart. Those re- 
 marks he subsequently extended by observations made 
 during numerous journeys to every part of the kingdom ; 
 undertaken, originally, for the purpose of strengthening 
 his company by recruits from the provincial theatres ; 
 but afterwards pursued expressly to enable him to arrange 
 
 * The Bath Theatre was the first Theatre Royal out of the metropolis. 
 Whilst under Mr. Palmer's direction, many persons made their appear- 
 ance here, who afterwards became first-rate actors at the London 
 theatres, as Edwin, Henderson, Mrs. Siddons, Mrs. Crawford, Miss 
 Brunton, and others. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 177 
 
 and mature his plans for an effective change in every 
 branch of the Post Office. 
 
 On entering into this arduous undertaking, he ob- 
 tained the acquiescence and support of the late Mr. Pitt, 
 whose private secretary, Dr. Prettyman, afterwards 
 Bishop of Lincoln, was the medium of communication 
 between them ; and he stipulated to receive two and a 
 half per cent, on the future increased revenue of the Post 
 Office beyond its then net profits, if his plan succeeded ; 
 but if it failed, he was not to be paid a single shilling*. 
 
 Let any one who wishes to appreciate the talents 
 requisite to ensure success in a plan of such vast magni- 
 tude as that projected by Mr. Palmer, spread the map 
 of Great Britain before him ; let him look at the cities, 
 towns, and villages, distributed upon its surface ; and, 
 finally, compose a system by which the mails shall quit 
 each of those different places at different times, and 
 combine, or, as it were, dove-tail in with the main routes 
 of the kingdom, and with such clock-work precision, 
 that all shall arrive at the same spot within a few minutes 
 of each other f ! He will then, and then only, be able 
 to form a correct estimate of the mental energies neces- 
 sary for such an enterprise. 
 
 During the prosecution of his scheme, every possible 
 kind of difficulty was thrown in Mr. Palmer's way by 
 those who were interested in the continuance of cus- 
 tomary abuses ; and every kind of ill augury was ob- 
 
 * Mr. Palmer frequently acknowledged that the contemplation of the 
 capacious mansion erected in Prior Park, by Mr. Allen, (the friend of 
 Pope and Warburton,) out of the immense sums which he received for 
 some improvements in the conveyance of the cross mails, (about half a 
 million sterling,) was the grand stimulus that urged him to exertion and 
 perseverance. 
 
 t Vide " Gentleman's Magazine,"' Sept. 1818. 
 
 v 
 
178 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 jected against him. Even the very authorities and 
 officers of the Post Office itself, thwarted and opposed 
 his arrangements ; and nothing but the most undaunted 
 determination and active industry, could have raised 
 him superior to the strong opposition he experienced. 
 In the course of these proceedings he found it requisite 
 to address a strong explanatory letter to Mr. Pitt, who 
 evinced the full confidence which he reposed in his plans 
 by appointing him, in July 1789, Surveyor and Comptrol- 
 ler General of the Post Office, with an annual salary 
 of 1,500/. From that station, however, he was sus- 
 pended in 1792, in consequence of disputes with the 
 Postmaster - General respecting his deputy surveyor; 
 and of other circumstances relating to the comple- 
 tion of his plans, which, however, had increased the 
 revenue of his department in 1783 from 159,625/. to 
 636,956/. in 1798. His claim to a per centage was also 
 disallowed ; and his remuneration fixed at 3,000/. per 
 annum. 
 
 Fully impressed with the justness of his own cause, 
 Mr. Palmer sought that redress from Parliament which 
 he could not obtain from the Ministry ; but although a 
 Committee, appointed by the House of Commons, reported 
 entirely in his favour, he could not procure a recogni- 
 tion of his claims till May 1808, when the House re- 
 solved, by a majority of 86, that he was justly entitled 
 to two and a half per cent, above the net revenue of the 
 Post Office, viz. 240,000/. from the 5th of April, 1793. 
 His compensation bill, founded on this resolution, was 
 however thrown out by the Lords, on the third read- 
 ing, by a majority of sir; but afterwards the ministers 
 themselves brought in, and passed, an act, granting him 
 50,000/. as a remuneration for his services, independently 
 of his salary of 3,000/. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 17!) 
 
 Mr. Palmer was elected Mayor of Bath, in 179G; 
 and he twice represented that city in Parliament. One 
 of his latest employments was to rebuild the Bath 
 Theatre upon the site which it now occupies. He died 
 at Brighton, on the 16th of August, 1818, in the 76th 
 year of his age. His remains were conveyed to his 
 native city and interred in the Abbey Church, the Mayor 
 and Corporation attending the funeral. 
 
 Thomas Haweis, LL.D. and M.D., (ob. 1820,) was 
 born in 1734, at Truro, in Cornwall. He received his 
 early education at the Grammar School in that town ; and 
 being intended for the medical profession, was afterwards 
 placed in the shop of a respectable surgeon and apothe- 
 cary there. Having contracted an intimate friendship 
 with a popular dissenting preacher, whose discourses he 
 was accustomed to attend, he determined to alter his pur- 
 suits and to enter the ministry. With some difficulty, he 
 procured the means of proceeding to the University of 
 Cambridge, where he became a student at Christ's Col- 
 lege ; and having regularly proceeded in arts, he was 
 advanced to the degree ofLL.B. in 1772. Some years 
 previously to that date, however, he had distinguished 
 himself by his preaching ; and soon after taking holy 
 orders, had been made assistant chaplain to the Rev. 
 Martin Madan, (the far-famed author of " Thelyphthora") 
 at the Lock Hospital, near Hyde Park Corner. In 
 February 1764, he was presented, for a limited time, to the 
 Rectory of Aldwinckle All Saints, in Northampton- 
 shire ; and he continued to possess that living until his 
 decease. The circumstances under which the presenta- 
 tion was made occasioned a great ferment in the re- 
 ligious world of that era, as it was supposed to be not 
 
180 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 unconnected with simony, the advowson being worth 
 1200/., and the living within a few days of a lapse*. 
 The religious tenets of Dr. Haweis were those which are 
 popularly termed evangelical ; and those opinions, with 
 the attractions of his oratory, introduced him to the ac- 
 quaintance and esteem of the venerable Selina, Countess 
 of Huntingdon, who appointed him her chaplain. She 
 likewise entrusted him with the general distribution of 
 her extensive charities ; and upon her decease, made him 
 her principal trustee, thus confiding to him the manage- 
 ment of the numerous chapels which she had founded, as 
 well as other concerns of great value and importance. 
 His attention was not exclusively fixed on the cure of 
 souls, for meeting with many cases of sickness in the 
 course of his ministration, his humanity prompted him to 
 take the degree of M.D., for which he was well qualified 
 by the studies of his youth ; and his advice was always 
 given gratuitously. His memory will be long revered, 
 not only from his active virtues when living, but also 
 from his having been the founder of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, and the Father of the Missions to the 
 South Sea Islands. He died at his house, in Beaufort 
 Buildings, Bath, on the 11th of February, 1820, in the 
 86th year of his age ; and was interred in the Abbey 
 Church, where a small tablet has been inscribed to his 
 memory. His writings were numerous, but altogether 
 confined to religious subjects. His principal works are 
 the " Evangelical Expositor," 2 vols. fol. ; a " Transla- 
 
 * Several controversial tracts on the occasion were written by Haweis 
 and Madan, all of which were epitomised in the " Gentleman's Maga- 
 zine" for 1767. The late erudite critic, Jeremiah Markland, speaking of 
 the transaction in a letter quoted in " Literary Anecdotes," vol. iv. 
 p. 347, says — " In my paper it has a most shocking and odious look 
 against those Methodists." 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 181 
 
 tion of the New Testament from the Greek;" a " Life 
 of the Rev. Wm. Romaine;" an " Impartial and Suc- 
 cinct History, &c. of the Church of Christ;" and a 
 " View of the State of Evangelical Religion throughout 
 the World, in 1812." 
 
 William Meyler. Ob. 1821.— The name of Meyler 
 must be familiar to every literary and scientific person, 
 who has had any intercourse with Bath during the last 
 forty years. William Meyler, the subject of this memoir, 
 first settled in that city in the year 1767, and progressively 
 advanced himself by assiduity, talents, and worth, from 
 the state of an apprentice to a bookseller and binder, to 
 be the editor and proprietor of a respectable periodical 
 newspaper, an alderman of the city, and a man, whose 
 company and friendship were coveted by the most emi- 
 nent and distinguished characters of Bath and its vicinity. 
 He was born at Newburg, in the Isle of Anglesea, Dec. 
 13, 1755, and sent, when nine years of age, to school at 
 Marlbro', in Wiltshire, where his uncle, the Rev. Thomas 
 Meyler, was Master of the Free Grammar School. 
 Though previously unacquainted with any other language 
 than his native Welsh, he so rapidly improved in classical 
 and commercial knowledge, that it was determined he 
 should make choice of a profession when only in his 
 twelfth year. He was accordingly apprenticed to a 
 bookseller in this city ; but instead of being permitted to 
 read the works, as he had fondly expected, which fur- 
 nished his master's shelves, he was almost incessantly 
 engaged in the labour of binding; and " no crime could 
 be greater, in the opinion of his austere employer, than 
 to suffer his eyes to wander over the leaves of a book, 
 
182 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 while his hands ought to have been active in adorning its 
 covers." 
 
 In 1781, he commenced business for himself in the 
 Grove, where his talents and social disposition quickly 
 drew around him a numerous acquaintance ; some of 
 whom, the Dandies of the day, wishing to profit in fame 
 by his facility of versification, induced him to supply 
 pieces for Lady Miller's poetical Vase at Bath Easton ; 
 and his pulse has often " beat with delight at the praise 
 bestowed upon his compositions," although the reputa- 
 tion devolved upon some fashionable poppinjay, 
 " Who never wrote except upon a card." 
 
 He had also the frequent satisfaction of obtaining the 
 " myrtle wreath" for his own avowed productions, and 
 the still greater pleasure of acquiring by that means 
 the friendship of Anstey and Graves, with whom he re- 
 mained in strict intimacy till the times of their respective 
 decease ; and he has perpetuated his regard and ad- 
 miration for them by an elegant monody, in which he 
 has given excellent imitations of their different styles of 
 poetry. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1792, the first number of the 
 " Bath Herald" was published, of which Mr. Meyler 
 became the editor ; and on the same day the " Bath 
 Register" appeared. For a short period these newspa- 
 pers were carried on in opposition to each other, and no 
 common degree of acrimony was excited, by the follow- 
 ing pointed epigram, which our editor composed for his 
 own paper : — 
 
 If a story you'd wish to be spread the Town round, 
 Go tell it to Blab as a secret profound : 
 But if 'tis a secret you'd hush ev'ry word of, 
 Let the Register print it ; — twill never be heard of. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 183 
 
 A coalition was afterwards formed between the two 
 papers ; but the proprietors by that union becoming too 
 numerous, and the expenditure exceeding the receipts, the 
 whole property, in June 1795, was made over to Mr. 
 Meyler, who rendered the Bath Herald one of the most 
 distinguished literary papers upon record. 
 
 The activity and talents of this gentleman were so 
 well appreciated by his fellow-citizens, that, in 1801, they 
 elected him a member of the Common Council ; and his 
 opinions on municipal affairs had considerable weight in 
 the chamber of Bath. He likewise acquired much in- 
 fluence as a Free Mason ; and " the brethren of the craft 
 acknowledged, that in all the points which constitute a 
 good mason, he was pre-eminently excellent:" for several 
 years he was Deputy Provincial Grand-Master for the 
 county, the business of which honourable office he 
 transacted with assiduity and intelligence. 
 
 In 1806 Mr. Meyler published an octavo volume, 
 under the title of " Poetical Amusements on the Journey 
 of Life," which his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, 
 (his present Majesty,) from respect to his character and 
 abilities, requested might be dedicated to himself. Many 
 pieces in that volume are highly poetical, and written 
 with much beauty and great felicity of expression. His 
 prologues, and other theatrical addresses, abound with 
 genuine point, and apt and appropriate allusions. The 
 drama, indeed, was his favourite amusement; and he 
 once performed Richard III. for the benefit of a charity 
 at Bath, in such a respectable and chastened style of 
 acting, that it was thought the highest walks of the 
 stage would have been within the scope of his powers, 
 had he adopted it as a profession. 
 
 Mr. Meyler's general urbanity and suavity of man- 
 ners was unvaried ; his kindness to, and solicitude for, 
 
ltvl 
 
 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 the welfare of every new candidate for histrionic or 
 literary honours, were displayed on many occasions ; 
 and the writer of this slight sketch of his memoirs can 
 testify this in his own behalf ; as well as for several per- 
 sons, whom he has known in his intercourse with Bath. 
 
 Although greatly afflicted with the gout during the 
 last years of his useful life, his mental activity, colloquial 
 address, and social amenities, remained unsubdued ; when 
 confined even to his chamber by lameness, his society 
 was courted by the most eminent literary characters that 
 either resided in, or visited this city ; among these were 
 Drs. Harington and Valpy, Mr. Pratt, Mr. Bowles, 
 Mr. Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons, the first of whom, who 
 had been blind for a long time previously to his decease, 
 passed several hours with him daily, in cheerful and 
 familiar converse ; and on those occasions they eminently 
 enjoyed the " feast of reason and the flow of soul." 
 Mr. Meyler died on the 10th of March, 1821, and was 
 buried on the Saturday following in the Abbey Church. 
 
 Josiah Thomas, A.M., Archdeacon of Bath, who 
 died in 1822, is commemorated by a handsome monu- 
 ment, executed by Gahagan, and erected in this Church, 
 as a tribute of respect by some private friends. When 
 young, he published a poem called " The Curate," which 
 was considered to possess great merit ; indeed, but few 
 persons were better judges of poetry than himself, 
 although his subsequent compositions were limited to 
 small pieces, written for the indulgence of a friendly 
 circle. He had a strong and well-cultivated mind, and 
 was well-versed in the different theories of religion, of 
 which his " Controversy" with the Bishop of Gloucester, 
 now Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, his " Strictures 
 on subjects chiefly relating to the Established Religion 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 185 
 
 and the Clergy," in two letters addressed to his patron, 
 Lord Bath, published in 1809 ; and his " Remarks on 
 some Popular Principles and Notions," addressed to his 
 Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in 1813, may be 
 referred to as evidence. He had a thorough knowledge 
 of the English language, and both in speaking and writing 
 his own, was energetic and nervous. On his monument, 
 which exhibits a figure of Truth, with symbols appro- 
 priate to Christianity, is this inscription : 
 
 Josije Thomas, A.M., 
 
 Archidiacono Bathoniensi, 
 
 Regise Majestati a Sacris, 
 
 Desiderii Ac Reverentise Caussa, 
 
 Fecere Complores. 
 
 Anno Sacro M.D.CCC.XXII. 
 
 Caleb Hillier Parry, M.D., (ob. 1822,) born at Ci- 
 rencester, Gloucestershire, Oct. 21, 1755, was descended 
 from an ancient family in Pembrokeshire, an elder branch 
 of which still retains the hereditary estates of Penderry 
 and Portclew. His father, the Rev. Joshua Parry, a 
 dissenting minister, was distinguished for his talents 
 and loyalty, and was the intimate friend and constant 
 correspondent of the first Earl Bathurst, and of many 
 other eminent men ; among whom may be named 
 Doddridge, Amory, Chandler, Hawkesworth, James, 
 Urmston, Whitsted, Kippis, T. Scott, Dean Tucker, &c. 
 He was an excellent classical, Welsh, and Hebrew 
 scholar. A volume of his Sermons, and a detached 
 Sermon against Popery, evince the purity and per- 
 spicuity of his style, and the excellence of his moral 
 and religious principles. He was an admired contri- 
 
186 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 butor to various periodical publications ; and, — as we 
 learn from Hawkins, in his Life of Dr. Johnson, — one of 
 the original writers in the " Gentleman's Magazine." 
 This highly respected man died at Cirencester, in the 
 year 1776, aged 57, being then engaged, by the desire, 
 and with the assistance, of the Lord Chancellor Bathurst, 
 in writing the biography of his Lordship's father. 
 
 Dr. Parry was the eldest of three sons and seven 
 daughters, the only survivor of whom is the present 
 Lady Hobhouse. His mother inherited from Mr. Caleb 
 Hillier, her father, the estates of Upcott and Minety, in 
 Gloucestershire, which descended to the subject of the 
 present memoir. Young Parry received the rudiments 
 of his education at the Rev. Mr. Washbourn's School, at 
 Cirencester, and in 1770 was placed at the Academy of 
 Warrington, Lancashire, where he continued till 1773, 
 in which year he commenced his studies at Edinburgh. 
 In the summer of 1775, he visited London, and resided 
 for two years with the late Dr. Denman. He returned 
 to Edinburgh in 1777, and graduated in the month of 
 June in the following year. As President, he was 
 chiefly instrumental in procuring a royal charter for the 
 Medical Society, then recently instituted in that city. 
 
 In 1778, Dr. Parry was united to Miss Rigby, with 
 whom he had formed an early attachment at Warring- 
 ton*. Soon after the solemnization of this event, he 
 
 * This lady, the daughter of John Rigby, Esq., of Manchester, was 
 no less celebrated for her beauty than for her amiable disposition and 
 engaging manners. The friendship and admiration of Mrs. Barbauld 
 dedicated to her young friend several of the beautiful Poems which she 
 was then publishing. The exquisite lines addressed " to Miss R., when 
 attending her mother at Buxton," sufficiently exhibit the character and 
 merits of the present Mrs. Parry. Her mother, the daughter of Dr. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 187 
 
 proceeded to the Continent; and after having visited 
 Holland, Flanders, and France, he took up his final resi- 
 dence at Bath, in Nov. 1779, and scarcely quitted that 
 city for a day during the remaining career of his valuable 
 and useful life. 
 
 Within a short period after his settlement at Bath, 
 Dr. Parry assumed a high and commanding station, 
 social as well as professional. He became much distin- 
 guished by his extensive and enlightened practice, by 
 the humanity of his character, and by the publication of 
 numerous medical writings. Before his last illness, he 
 was engaged in a comprehensive work, the result of his 
 long experience, which one or two years more would have 
 enabled him to arrange and complete ; the materials of 
 which were, however, left in so unconnected and imper- 
 fect a state, as hitherto to have prevented their publica- 
 tion. An Epitome of the Pathological part of this 
 intended system was fortunately committed to the press 
 in 1815 ; and perhaps even in its unfinished state, no 
 medical work of the age has excited greater interest 
 than the first volume of his " Elements of Pathology 
 and Therapeutics." 
 
 But, to the public, Dr. Parry was for many years 
 even more allied by the variety of his other accomplish- 
 ments and pursuits than by those of his immediate pro- 
 fession. It would not, indeed, be easy to adduce an 
 instance of higher endowments, whether we look for the 
 resources and refinements of ordinary society, or the 
 more profound attainments of intellectual and cultivated 
 life. His intimate acquaintance with the arts of music, 
 
 Taylor, the Hebraist, whose numerous works, and whose portrait by 
 Houbraken, are well known, had been celebrated by the same muse, 
 which was again eloquent on occasion of the marriage of her favourite 
 acquaintance. 
 
188 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 poetry, and painting, from each and all of which he 
 derived an intense pleasure, will be readily acknowledged 
 by those who knew him, and who are themselves com- 
 petent judges in these matters. His familiar connexion 
 with many naval and military persons of renown, had 
 made him remarkably conversant with the subjects and 
 details of their professions ; while his accurate knowledge 
 of the history and politics of his own and other countries, 
 had rendered him the esteemed friend and correspondent 
 of Burke and Windham. His insight into our foreign 
 commercial relations, is evinced by a series of Letters, 
 anonymously published in the " Sun," on the importance 
 of our South American trade, particularly that of the 
 colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice. 
 
 How deeply he was versed in the theory and practice 
 of Gardening and Agriculture, to which, as an amuse- 
 ment and relaxation, he devoted much of his leisure, 
 is indisputably proved by his various writings in the 
 " Transactions of the Board of Agriculture," those of 
 the " Bath Society," by his Letters in the " Farmer's 
 Journal," by his " Essay on Merino Sheep," and by a 
 voluminous correspondence, kept up for twenty years 
 with his particular friends, Lord Somerville, Sir Joseph 
 Banks, and the principal agriculturists of the kingdom, — 
 men, who in their enthusiastic efforts to promote the 
 internal prosperity of their country, kept pace with 
 the spirit, which, through a series of dark years, con- 
 ducted to a glorious event, an almost overwhelming but 
 protective state of warfare. From his attachment to 
 subjects of rural economy, Dr. Parry was particularly 
 honoured by the condescending kindness and notice of 
 his late Majesty. He was not less familiar with the 
 facts and deductions of Natural Philosophy and Natural 
 History, respecting which he had frequent communica- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 189 
 
 tion, as well with his old and highly valued friends, Sir 
 William Herschel and Dr. Jenner, as with many other 
 celebrated characters, to whom his talents and his con- 
 nexion as a member of the Royal, and various other 
 Societies, abroad and at home, gave him ready access. 
 
 Dr. Parry had made extensive collections of Organic 
 Remains and Mineralogical Specimens. Whilst the 
 sciences to which these related were yet in their in- 
 fancy, he had collected materials, which, with leisure, 
 would have grown into volumes, and have formed very 
 important records in those delightful and interesting- 
 departments of inquiry. In 1781, he published " Pro- 
 posals for a History of the Fossils of Gloucestershire," 
 which was intended to include all that was known on 
 the subject of Organic Remains, and the result of many 
 experiments and observations, in which he had been long 
 and ardently engaged. His increasing vocations would 
 never allow the completion of this work. 
 
 Dr. Parry was an indefatigable reader. His acquaint- 
 ance with books was not, however, confined to an ele- 
 mentary and critical examination. From them he either 
 sought the higher gratifications of his mental faculties, or 
 the elucidation and extension of practical points, whether 
 of moral or of physical interest. 
 
 He was an admirable metaphysician, and few men 
 possessed a more sound or discriminating judgment. 
 With a certain severity of character, was united a playful- 
 ness, which, (while through life, it had invigorated and 
 charmed his domestic circle,) scarcely deserted him under 
 the severest trials, and amidst the heaviest afflictions. 
 His miscellaneous reading, extensive knowledge of men 
 and manners, and an excellent memory, supplied, in his 
 intercourse with society, a constant fund of anecdote and 
 quotation, embracing the most abstruse matters of dis- 
 
190 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 cussion, and the most familiar and apposite illustrations 
 of wit and narrative. Dr. Parry was a sincere believer 
 in Christianity, an excellent husband, father, and friend, 
 devoted to his King, and firmly attached to the constitu- 
 tion of his country. Of four sons and five daughters, 
 two of the former and four of the latter survive their 
 honoured parent. 
 
 His second son, George Frederic, died at the age of 
 twenty-one, in the year 1804, having distinguished him- 
 self on the continent, -where he had resided for several 
 years, by his zeal in the pursuit of several objects of 
 natural science. He was buried in the Abbey Church. 
 
 George Brydges Rodney, his third son, died an 
 infant, in 1786, and was buried in the parish church 
 of Walcot*. Elizabeth Emma, his fourth daughter, 
 wife of John Eardley Wilmot, of Berkswell, in the 
 county of Warwick, Esq., died in childbed of twins, 
 her seventh and eighth children, in the year 1818. She 
 was interred in the parish church of Berkswell. Of 
 Dr. Parry's surviving children, it is sufficient to name, 
 in this place, his youngest son, Captain William Edward 
 Parry, R.N.f Dr. Parry died at his house in Sion Place, 
 
 * In the burial-ground of that church are also deposited the remains 
 of Caroline Mary, the infant daughter of his eldest son, who died Sept. 
 25, 1824. 
 
 f The name of this distinguished and enterprising officer naturally 
 awakens mingled emotions of pleasure and apprehension ; — of grati- 
 tude for the past, and anxiety for the future. Such a parent, friend, 
 and guide, as we have seen described, was calculated to inspire and 
 instruct an ardent youth ; and from this example and incentive has 
 sprung the gallant and persevering officer, whose Arctic discoveries, and 
 whose scientific journals, have at once aroused national curiosity, and 
 afforded gratification to a large portion of the reading community. 
 Captain Parry is now, for the third time, traversing the Northern seas ; 
 and it is ardently hoped will return to his native country and friends, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 191 
 
 Bath, on the 9th of March, 1822, after a series of com- 
 plicated disease and suffering, arising from a paralytic 
 seizure with which he was afflicted in 1816. No one 
 in his sphere died more regretted than the subject of 
 this short memoir. Many of his personal friends, and 
 a numerous assemblage of his professional brethren, at 
 their own particular request, followed his remains to 
 the grave. The latter caused a handsome monument 
 to be erected to his memory *, However expressly 
 he may have himself directed that his interment should 
 be conducted with privacy, the proffered marks of re- 
 spect could not, on such an occasion, be decently re- 
 jected ; while, at the same time, this unsought evidence 
 of the attachment of those with whom he had acted in 
 public and private life, necessarily afforded his family a 
 high degree of grateful satisfaction. 
 
 Besides this public record of esteem, a marble slab 
 was laid over the place of his interment by his widow 
 and children. It bears inscribed some lines, by an un- 
 known writer, which appeared characteristic of the situa- 
 tion and circumstances of this much lamented husband, 
 parent, and friend, and were therefore adopted by his 
 relatives. 
 
 stored with novel and useful information. A Memoir and Portrait of this 
 enterprising officer, were given in the " European Magazine," for May 
 1821. 
 
 Of his elder Brother, now residing at Bath, following the pro- 
 fession, and emulating the noble example of his father, it would be 
 easy and delightful to speak in terms of sincere approbation— to notice 
 his urbanity of manners, intellectual attainments, and zealous search 
 after knowledge ; but as the feelings of the heart might be misunder- 
 stood and misinterpreted by some, or considered as inconsistent with the 
 customs of polished society by others, forbearance, on this occasion, 
 seems the most prudent course. 
 
 " See page 1 14 for the inscription. 
 
192 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Underneath 
 
 Are deposited the remains of 
 
 Caleb Hillier Parry, M.D., F.R.S., &c. 
 
 Who, after a painful and complicated illness 
 
 Of nearly six years, 
 
 Which he bore with exemplary resignation, 
 
 Quitted this mortal scene, March 9, 1822, 
 
 Aged 66 years. 
 
 The esteem of his professional brethren 
 
 Has, on a monument in the Choir of this Church, 
 
 Recorded some of his virtues ; 
 
 The love and regret of his Widow and 
 
 Six surviving Children 
 
 Place this Stone to his Memory. 
 
 " Thou silent Door of our sepulchral sleep ! 
 
 Sickness and pain, debility and woes, 
 
 All the dire train of ills Existence knows, 
 
 Thou shuttest out for ever ! Why then weep 
 
 This fixed tranquillity, so long, so deep, 
 
 _ . C Husband's ) . , . „ 
 
 For a dear < > faded form, where rose 
 
 t Father's ) 
 
 No energy enlivening health bestows, 
 
 Through many a tedious year that used to creep 
 
 In languid deprivation, while the Flame 
 
 Of Intellect, resplendent once confessed, 
 
 Dark and more Dark each passing day became ! 
 
 Now that Angelic lights the Soul invest, 
 
 Calm let us yield to thee a joyless Frame, 
 
 Thou Silent Door of everlasting Rest !" 
 
 Don Francisco Antonio Zea. Ob. 1823. — This 
 gentleman, a native of Antioquia, in South America, 
 came to England in the spring of 1822, as Plenipo- 
 tentiary of the Republic of Colombia, of which he was 
 Vice-President. Previously to his departure for Europe, 
 he laid before Congress the project for the constitution 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 193 
 
 of his country, which was afterwards adopted in all its 
 leading particulars. He had fought by the side of the 
 liberator Bolivar, and was the constant associate of that 
 brave and patriotic chieftain for many years, until his 
 mission to Europe, (in 1820,) where much of his life had 
 been spent. Before the South American revolution, he 
 held at different times several offices under the Spanish 
 government. He died at the York House, Bath, Novem- 
 ber the 28th, 1823, aged fifty-one years; and his re- 
 mains were interred in the Abbey Church . 
 
 The accounts of the following three persons, who were 
 interred in this Church, having been omitted in their 
 chronological order, are introduced in this place : — 
 
 John Pelling, B.D. Ob. 1620. — Guidott, in his 
 " Treatises," relating to Bath, speaking of Bishop Mon- 
 tague's monument in the Abbey Church, has the follow- 
 ing passage : — " Over against this noble monument, the 
 City, in Testimony of. the Respects they owed to the 
 then Rector, Mr. John Pelling, erected another to him. 
 This Reverend Divine, notwithstanding he had a nu- 
 merous Issue, yet was so indefatigably zealous in for- 
 warding the Reparation of this Fabrick, that, when at 
 any time (and that was not seldom in that generous and 
 benefactory Age) any Persons of Honour offered to him, as 
 to his private, he refused it with his 'Non Mihi, sed Eccle- 
 sice,' which occasioned that Motto over his Tomb, which 
 Self-denial (it's possible) the good God has secondarily 
 paid into his own Bosom by a Blessing on his Posterity, 
 who, some of them especially, notwithstanding the few 
 Mites they had to begin the World, have now the Value 
 of Talents in their possession." 
 
 o 
 
194 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 According to Wood, Mr. Pelting was " a Minister's 
 son, of Wilts ; and published a Sermon on the Providence 
 of God, in 1607; and perhaps other things." He was 
 educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where, in 1583, 
 he proceeded in arts, and in 1597, took the degree of 
 B.D. He was Rector of Bath thirty years, as appears 
 by his epitaph, and died in February 1620. He is re- 
 presented by a three quarter figure placed within a niche 
 against the north wall of this Church. 
 
 Joseph Glanvill, (ob. 1684,) Chaplain to Charles 
 the Second, and for several years Rector of Bath Abbey 
 Church, distinguished himself as an author, by writing on 
 Witchcraft, the supernatural agency of evil spirits, and 
 other similar subjects, then popular, but now exploded. 
 He was the son of a merchant at Plymouth, where he was 
 born, in 1636 ; and after being educated at Oxford, took 
 the degree of M.A. in 1658. Having assumed the 
 priestly office, he became chaplain to Francis Rous, who 
 had been made Provost of Eton College, by Oliver 
 Cromwell. But Rous dying shortly after, he returned 
 to the University, and pursued his studies till the Re- 
 storation. On the re-establishment of the church of 
 England, Mr. Glanvill was regularly ordained, and be- 
 came Rector of Winbush, in Essex ; and in November 
 1662, he was presented to the living of Frome Selwood, 
 by Sir James Thymic In 1664 he was elected a Fellow 
 of the Royal Society. He had previously written in 
 defence of experimental philosophy, against those who 
 adhered to the doctrines of Aristotle and the Schoolmen ; 
 and his literary labours are said to have procured him 
 many friends among the cultivators of physical science, 
 through whose interest he obtained the Rectory of the 
 Abbey Church at Bath, to which he was inducted in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. 195 
 
 June 166G. He then resided in that city, where he con- 
 tinued the remainder of his life. In 1672 he was made 
 Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty. His other prefer- 
 ments in the church were a Prebend in Worcester Cathe- 
 dra], procured for him by the Marquess of Worcester, to 
 whom his wife was related ; and the Rectory of Street, 
 near Glastonbury, for which he exchanged his Vicarage 
 of Frome. 
 
 Mr. Glanvill died at his house in Bath, November 
 4, 1680 ; and was buried in the north aile of the Abbey 
 Church, on the 9th of the same month. A monument, 
 with an inscription to his memory, was erected by his 
 widow, Margaret, of the family of the Selwins, of Glou- 
 cestershire. He was twice married, but had no children 
 by either of his consorts. 
 
 The writings of Glanvill consist of three papers in 
 the Philosophical Transactions; a Treatise on " Witches 
 and Witchcraft," occasioned by the disturbances in the 
 house of Mr. Mompesson, of Tidworth, in Wiltshire, 
 which gave rise to Addison's Comedy of the " Drum- 
 mer, or the Haunted House;" " an Essay concerning 
 Preaching;" " Sermons;" and controversial tracts. His 
 chief literary opponents were the Rev. Robert Crosse, 
 Vicar of Chew Magna, Somersetshire ; and Henry Stubbe, 
 a physician, occasionally residing at Bath. 
 
 Henry Stubbe, (ob. 1676,) was a physician and public 
 writer of considerable eminence in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury. He was born in Lincolnshire, in 1631, and educated 
 first at Westminster School, and afterwards at Oxford. In 
 1657 he was made second keeper of the Bodleian Library, 
 under Dr. Barlow. He then obtained the patronage of 
 Sir Henry Vane, in whose behalf he employed his pen. 
 
196 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 He likewise wrote in favour of the tenets of the Quakers ; 
 but after the Restoration he conformed to the Church of 
 England ; and having lost his situation in the University, 
 adopted the medical profession. In 1661 he went to 
 Jamaica, with the title of his Majesty's Physician for 
 that island. Returning soon after, he settled as a medi- 
 cal practitioner at Stratford upon Avon ; whence he re- 
 moved to Warwick, where he obtained considerable 
 practice, as he also did at Bath, which he made the 
 place of his residence during the summer season. 
 
 Stubbe seems to have been a man of unsettled princi- 
 ples, and of a very restless disposition, which led him to 
 engage in many literary controversies. He wrote against 
 Dr. Wallis in support of Hobbes ; but he distinguished 
 himself chiefly by attacking Dr. Sprat's " History of 
 the Royal Society," and a Treatise against the Phi- 
 losophy of Aristotle, written by Joseph Glanvill. The 
 dispute with the latter was carried on with much 
 asperity, and both parties repeatedly appealed to the 
 press. Stubbe was drowned July 12, 1676, in passing a 
 river about two miles from Bath, while on a journey to 
 Bristol, in the exercise of his profession. His body was 
 found the next day, and interred in the Abbey Church 
 at Bath ; when his literary antagonist Clanvill preached 
 his funeral sermon. 
 
 Wood, in his " Athenae Oxonienses," represents Stubbe 
 as a man of very extensive learning and great abilities, 
 but thoughtless, hot-headed, and imprudent, so that " he 
 became a ridicule, and undervalued by sober and know- 
 ing scholars, and others too." His works, in general re- 
 lating to temporary topics, are now almost forgotten. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Num. I. Page 26. 
 
 Carta Willie! mi II. Regis, qua Abbatiam S. Petri Bathonia 
 Johanni Episcopo Somersetensi ad ampliandos Episcopatus donat. 
 
 [Reg. Well. i. fol. 14. Hearn. Ad. de Domerh. torn. i. p. 278. Vide etiam 
 Hickes, Dissert. Epist. p. 47.] 
 
 Pax in perpetuum deicolis omnibus, tarn futuris tam praesentibus. 
 Quoniam Deo omnipotente tempora saeculorum ordinante, et his, 
 prout placuerit, finem imponente, coelum et terra, et omnia quae in 
 eis sunt, suo fine transibunt, et vita nostra, quae ad tempus floret, 
 et cito tanquam flos foeni decidit, videtur esse momentanea ; 
 idcirco cunctis agendum, ut hie bonis actibus futura? beatitudinis 
 meicemur gaudia, absque omni immutatione perenniter mansura. 
 Quocirca ego Willielmus Willielmi regis filius, Dei dispositione 
 monarches Britannia?, pro mea? meique patris remedio animae, et 
 Regni prosperitate, et populi a. Domino mihi collati salute, accessi 
 Johanni episcopo abbatiam Sancti Petri Bathonia?, cum omnibus 
 appendiciis, tam in villis quam in civitate et in consuetudinibus, 
 illis videlicet quibus saisita erat ea die qua. regnum suscepi. Dedi, 
 inquam, ad Somersetensis episcopatus augmentationem, ea- 
 tenus praesertim ut mihi instituat praesuleam sedem. Anno Do- 
 minica? incarnationis mill. XC°. regni vero mei III., indictione 
 XIII., VI. Kal. Febr. luna III. pepigi id, in eorum optimatum 
 meorum presentia -f quorum nomina subtus sunt annexa ; et ut 
 per posteritates succedentes apud homines quosque, veritatis ama- 
 tores, perseveret ratum, mea? regiae auctoritatis annecto sigillum, 
 sed et propria manu mea depingo crucis Dominicae signum + 
 Lanfranco archipraesuli machinante. Wintoniae factum est donum 
 hujus beneficii, mill. LXXX VIII°. anno ab incarnatione Domini ; 
 secundo ver6 anno regni regis Willielmi filii prions Willielmi. 
 Confirmatio autem hujus carta? facta est apud Doveriam, co 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 tempore quod superiusdeterminatumest. + Ego Thomas Archie- 
 piscopus Eboracensis laudavi. Ego Mauricius Londinensis epis- 
 copus corroboravi. + Ego Walchelinus Wintoniensis Episcopus 
 aptavi. Ego Osmundus Sarbiensis episcopus consolidavi. Ego 
 Osbemus Exoniensis episcopus confirmavi. Ego Remigius Lin- 
 colniensis episcopus astruxi. Ego Rotbertus Herefordiensis episco- 
 pus audivi. Ego Rotbertus Cestrensis episcopus conspexi. + 
 Ego Arnulfus Rouercestrensis episcopus annui. Ego Woles- 
 tannus Wigrecestrensis episcopus accessi. Ego Radulfus Cicis- 
 trensis episcopus vidi. Ego Herbertus Tetfordensis episcopus 
 audivi. Ego Goiffridus Constantiensis hoc exquisivi. + Ego 
 Hoellus Cenomannensis episcopus interfui. + Ego Wido abbas 
 Sancti Augustini Cantuarii. + Ego Gislebertus abbas Sancti 
 Petri Westmonasterii. Ego Terstinus abbas Glestoniensis. Ego 
 Symeon abbas de Eli. Ego Balduinus abbas Sancti Eadmundi. 
 Ego Rascinaldus abbas de Abendona. Ego Robertus abbas Sancti 
 Petri Wintoniae. Ego Walterus abbas de Evesham. Ego Pau- 
 lus abbas Sancti Albani. Ego Odo abbas de Certiseio. Eg-o 
 Godefridus abbas de Malmesberia. Ego Grisbirtus abbas de 
 Bello. Ego Serlo abbas de Glocestria. Ego Goisfridus Mala 
 Terra. + Ego Rogerus comes. Ego Rotbertus comes. -}- Ego 
 Symon comes. Ego Hugo comes. Ego Alanus comes. Ego 
 Henricus comes. Ego Walterus comes. Ego Williclmus comes. 
 Ego Rotbertus filius Hannonis. Ego Philippus Capellanus. + 
 Ego Rotbertus Cancellarius. Ego Samson capellanus. + Ego 
 Geraldus capellanus. Ego Ausgerus capellanus. + Ego Williel- 
 mus capellanus. + EgoRanulfus capellanus. + Ego Petrus capel- 
 lanus. + Ego Tusaldus capellanus. Ego Eudo dapifer. Ego 
 Ivo dapifer. Ego Hanno dapifer. Ego Rogerus dapifer. Ego 
 Willielrnus dapifer. Ego Rotbertus de Oili. Ego Urso de Abe- 
 tot. Rotbertus dispensator. Hugo de Portu. Rogerus de Bus- 
 leio. Ranulfus Peverellus + Aiulfus vicecomes -f Alveradus de 
 Lincoln + Ernulfus de Hesding -f Folco Crispinus. 
 
APPENDIX. IUO 
 
 Num. II. Page 26. 
 
 Carta Willie/mi Regis II. de Civitate Balhonia. 
 
 [Ex vetusto Exemplari in Bibl. Deuvestana an. 1G44, hodie MS. Harl. Brit. Mus. 
 
 358. fol. 39.] 
 
 W. Rex Anglorum, O. episcopo Saresbergensi, et L. abbati 
 Glastoniensi et A. vicecomiti ; omnibusque baronibus Francigenis 
 et Anglis, de Sumerseta et de Wiltunsire, salutem. Sciatis me 
 dedisse Deo et Sancto Petro in Bathonia, et Johanni episcopo, 
 totam civitatem Bathoniae in elemosinam, et ad augmentationem 
 pontificialis sedis suae, et omnibus successoribus suis ; pro remedio 
 animae patris mei, matrisque meae, et mei ipsius, et antecessorum 
 et successorum meorum. Dedi, inquam, ei ita libere et honorifice, 
 cum omnibus appenditiis, quidquid ego ibi habui, vel pater meus, 
 dum melius habuimus, cum omnibus consuetudinibus extra et infra, 
 ut liberalius habeo civitatem in tota Anglia ; cum moneta, cum 
 theloneo, tarn in campis quam in sylvis, tarn in foro quam in 
 pratis et in terris. Ut cum maximo honore ibi pontificialem suam 
 habeat sedem : et de hoc propalantur testes, Walkelinus Win- 
 toniensis episcopus, Robertus Lincoliensis episcopus, Robertus 
 comes de Mellent, Henricus comes de Warwic, Robertus Alius 
 Hamonis, Eudo dapifer, Ivo dapifer, Robertus filius Gcraldi, Ro- 
 bertus dispensator, Williel. de Carokela. 
 
 Num. III. Page 45. 
 [Reg. Well. Drokenesford. Harl. MS. 6954, p. 70. J 
 
 Litera ad Rob. Priorem Bathon. de miserabili statu istius con- 
 ventus. Bona domae predictae ex nimia simplicitate seu negli- 
 gentia custodum in tantum sunt his diebus evacuata seu con- 
 sumpta, quod monachi dictae ecclesiae saepius non solum pane et 
 cervisia, quod fari pudet, hora comestionis, verum etiam carnium 
 et piscium carent omnino ferculis consuetis ; et cibaria vilia et 
 insana quae gustare ncqueunt eisdem inhumaniter tribuuntur. 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 Et si quis ipsorum gravatur, murmuret, vel petat a vobis cauta- 
 tive, bono etiam zelo, juxta formam reguloe et antiquam ordina- 
 tionem domus, laudabiliter usitatam, suppleri defectum hujusmodi 
 subtractorum seu viliter oblatorum, statim verbis contumeliosis 
 comminatur : eidem quod esca deterior sibi providebitur, et poena 
 gravior subsequetur. 26 Aug. 1321. " Die Sabbat, prox. fest. 
 Sancti Matth. 1324. Litera Domini Episcopi pro collecta faci- 
 enda ad fabricam Eccl. Cathedr. Bathon." Ibid. p. 91. 
 
 Num. IV. Page 45. 
 
 Injnnctiones facta Priori et Conv. Bathon. 9 Oct. A.D. 1500. 
 [Harl. MS. b Registro Oliveri Kyng, Episcop. Bath. Well., fol. 62.] 
 
 Oliverus permissione divina B. W. episcopus, dilectis nobis in 
 Christo, confratri nostro priori et conv. Bathon., salutem, gratiam, et 
 benedictionem. Tandem dolenter inter csetera invenimus dictam 
 nostram Ecclesiam Cath. Bathon., per incuriam multorum priorum, 
 non reparatam aut refectam, imo funditus dirutam, ipsisque in 
 voluptatibus evanuisse : prioremque modernum, cui prsedecessorum 
 suorum culpam non ascribimus, remissum non benevolum ad dictae 
 ecclesise refectionem seu edificationem paterna compassione de- 
 ploramus. Nos igitur, prsemissis consideratis, de consilio multorum 
 nobilium, praelatorum, et abbatum, ac aliorum jurisperitorum, de 
 Dei misericordia et apostolorum ejus Petri et Pauli patrocinio 
 confisi ; necnon aliorum Christi fidelium et amicorum nostrorum 
 elemosyna freti : eo libentius quo celerem dicti operis expeditionem 
 et perfectionem conspicimus manus nostras adjutrices duximus 
 apponend., non laboribus aut expensis nostris parcentes. Speramus 
 itaque dictum opus perfectum volentes infra paucos annos facere 
 quod nunquam impensis dictorum prioris et conventus, aut vix 
 infra centum annos nostra, et amicorum nostrorum omissa vel 
 spreta diligenter posse fieri existimamus. Quamobrem praefatos 
 defectus monachorum, voluptates, otia, ecclesiee ruinam, ex super- 
 fluitate pensionum, indumentorum, cibariorum, et potuum orta, 
 temperare volentes. Ut etiam aliis Christi fidelibus in elemosy- 
 narum suarura largitione pios animos non auferamus, si dictos 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 priorem et conventum non reformatos, aut competentes expensas 
 ad dictum opus juxta vires non conferre dimittemus, praesentes 
 Injunctiones ab eisdem fidelibus observandas decrevimus. 
 
 Et quia per visum compoti vestri luculenter nobis apparet quod 
 redditusassisae beneficioruni,summarum, et pensionum cum exitibus 
 lance extendit ad summam iiij c . iiijxx. libr. xvj\ vj d . ob., vobis, 
 domine prior, ad sustentationem vestram iiij xx . marc, injungendo 
 assignamus. Item conventui vestro qui xvi. numero existunt, et ut 
 arbitrio abundantius exhibeantur quam stricte regulae vestrae intel- 
 lectu ad nudam literam, cavetur iiij xx . lib. Item ceetera onera 
 rationi consoni, prout in eodem visu continentur, de summa etiam 
 praedicta deducenda censemus omnia. Praeter xx. lib. de firma feudi 
 de Benton, et clx. lib. ad exhibitionem monachorum, cum credamus 
 et sufficienter experimur quod iiij xx . lib. summa ad sustentationem 
 eorem sufficiat, xl s . de feudo celerarii, xxvj s . viij d . de feudo sacristae, 
 xx s . de decima fceni sacristan antedicto assignat. xxx s . pro decima 
 agnellorum etiam sacristae assignat. ; cum monachis solus victus et 
 vestitus, non pensio aut proprium concedatur. Praeter etiam 1. lib. 
 pro reparationibus vestris in maneriis faciendis cum judicio nostro 
 xl. lib. sufficiant ; necnon xx. lib. pro stipendio servientum, cum 
 etiam ipsis x. lib. sufficiant. Residuam vero omnium proventuum, 
 deductis necessariis loco, tempore, per nos vobis citra festum natalis 
 Domini assignand. in constructionem dictae Ecclesiae nostrae cath. 
 exponend. et realiter expendenda mandamus et injungimus sub 
 poena juris. Volentes quod omnium casualium anni instantis, et 
 aliorum annorum futurorum, viz. terrarum, ecclesiarum in manibus 
 vestris tentarum, finium, heriotorum, mortuariorum, releviorum, 
 custodiarum juvenum, et eorum maritagiorum, wevarum, streyarum, 
 amerceamentorum, reddituum capitalium, venditionum agnorum, 
 ovium matricum, sub-bosci, et caeterorum omnium quorumcunque 
 quocunque nomine censeantur, fidelem nobis compotum infra 
 mensem post compotum vestrum generalem apud vos ut moris est 
 tenend. et celebrand. una cum compoto omnium beneficiorum, pen- 
 sionum et portionum vestris officianis deputat. archi. exhibeatis. 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX.— Num. V. Page 62. 
 
 [E Cod. MS. in Bibl. Paroch. Sti. Pet. et Pauli Bathon.] 
 
 Certaine Remembrances, the while, till a more longe Relation shall 
 be made, touching the Reperation of the Church of St. Peter 
 AND PAUL in the cittie of Bathe, since the manie Ruins of the 
 same. 
 
 It appeareth, that at three severall tymes the Ruins of this 
 Church have bene undertaken to be repaired, part after part 
 First, by the Cittie, with a collection all over this kingdome for 
 seaven years in the tyme of our late Queen Elizabeth of blessed 
 memorie, by virtue of her Majesty's Letters Patents : in which 
 seaven yeares the upper part thereof was all covered, with the north 
 part of the cross isle as it now standeth. The principal benefactor 
 to the first was Edmund Colethurst, Esquiere, in whose possession 
 this church then was, and gave it to the Cittie, though uncovered 
 and much ruined, as it had long stood after the dissolution, yet 
 the walls of the great tower and of most part of the church were 
 then standinge. 
 
 The second tyme the south part of the cross-isle was raised 
 neere from the ground, and covered as it is now, and the tower 
 also lofted and leaded as it now is, with the clocke set in it ; and 
 the bell to go ; as they both now doe. The principal benefactor 
 to this worke was Thomas Bellott, Esquire, steward of the house 
 and one of the executors of the Right Honorable William, Lord 
 Burley, late Lord Treasurer of England : part at his Lorde's 
 charge, the rest at his owne. Mr. Bellott began his worke in 
 Queene Elizabeth's time, and left it with his life, since his sacred 
 Majesty's reigne that now is. 
 
 The third tyme was repaired the third part of this church, 
 that from the tower westward. The principall benefactor to this 
 was the Right Reverend Father in God, James Montague, Doctor 
 in Divinity, then Bishop of Bathe and Welles, since Bishop of 
 Winchester, one of the Lords of his Majesty's Privie Counsell, 
 and Prelate of the Garter, now deceased, and heere buried in the 
 body of this church, which at his charge was so lately covered. 
 
APPENDIX. 203 
 
 Of particuler benefactors to the First worke wee understand 
 yett (besides the principall, Mr. Edmund Colethurst) but of two, 
 who were Thomas Earle of Sussex, Lord Chamberlaine to the 
 Queene's Majesty, at wbase charge was glased the uppermost of 
 the heigh windowes on the north side of the quire, and Walter 
 Callcutt, ofWilliamscot, in the countie of Oxford, Gentleman, who 
 gave ten poundes towardes the glasing of windowes in the said 
 first repaired part. 
 
 Memorandum, that Sir William Pastone, of Northfolke, Knight, 
 and Mr. Daniel Walters, of the said county, gent., were the first 
 benefactors to the seconde worke A5 Dni 1604, and gave severally 
 as appeareth in the list following. 
 
 Benefactors to the Second Worke. 
 
 Thomas Bellott, of London, Esquier, before-named, gave at 
 first towardes the building uppe of the south isle 200/. 
 
 Sir William Pastone, of Northfolke, Knight, gave towards that 
 worke 100/. 
 
 John Still, Doctor in Divinitie, Bishopp of Bathe and Wells, 
 gave 20/. 
 
 William Powell, Doctor in Divinitie, Archdeacon of Bathe, 
 gave the first tyme, (viz.) the xxvth of May, 1603, 10/. 
 
 Walter Chapman, Thomas Wint, and Peter Sherstone, all of 
 this cittie, paid in the xxix th of October, 1603, of moneyes that 
 they gave and gathered of the Cittie of Bathe, 35/. 18s. 
 
 Peter Sherstone aforesaid, paid in more, 3rd of November, 1603, 
 8/. 10s. 
 
 Thomas Power, Alderman of this Cittie, in November 1603, 
 gave 2/. 10s. 
 
 Danyell Walters, of Worsted, in the county of NorfT., gent., 
 gave 10/. 
 
 John Dunn, inhabitant of this Cittie, in November 1603, 
 gave 10s. 
 
 Laurence Biam, clerke, beneficed in Devonshire, who had 
 then certaine housing in this Cittie, gave 8/. 
 
 John Masters the elder, one of the common counsell of this 
 Cittie, nave 2/. 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 Edward Horton, of this Cittie, Esquire, gave in his life-tyme, 
 61., and by his last will and testament gave more, that was paid in 
 by John Maie and Henrie Long, Esquiers, his, the said Edward 
 Horton's executors, 56/. t. 
 
 Mrs. Alice Stone, wife to Christopher Stone, Alderman of this 
 Cittie, gave 10/. 
 
 Mr. Robert Rogers, citizen of Bristoll, gave 5/. 
 
 Mr. Walton, alias Walter, of Northfolke, gent., in November, 
 1606, gave 5/. 
 
 William Powell, Doctor in Divinitie, Archdeacon of Bathe, 
 gave the second tyme (viz.) the 26th of September 1607, 11. 
 
 Winsor, of Esquier, the xx th of March, 1607, 
 
 gave 10/. 
 
 Rowland Backhouse, of London, Merchant and Alderman, free 
 of the company of Mercers, executor unto Mr. Bartholomew 
 Barnes, of the same Cittie, Mercer, in the behalf of the said 
 Mr. Barnes, who lieth buried in the south side of the quier at the 
 upper end, gave 12/. 
 
 Thomas Wiat, of this Cittie, Alderman, in Maie 1609, brought 
 in of the church stocke of St. MichaelPs without gate, 4/. 65. 
 
 George Gibbes, of this Cittie, Apothecarie, gave by his last will 
 and testament, which was paid in by his* executrix in June 
 1609, 51. 
 
 Sir George de Poll, of SnarfFord, in the countie of Lincolne, 
 Knight and Baronett, in June 1609, gave 51. 
 
 John Elmer, of this Cittie, chirurgian, gave by his last will 
 and testament, 5/. 9 
 
 Richard Hall, of Alton-Barnes, in the countie of Wilts, 
 yeoman, in September 1613, gave 5/. 
 
 Suma, 514/. 14s. 
 
 Towards the Bell in this Church, bought at Caynsam, that 
 cost there 80/. 
 
 William Ford, of this cittie, gathered in the great church, 
 21. 10s. 8d. 
 
 The Lord Rich, gave about the same tyme, 21. 
 
 William Ford and George Gibbs, both of this cittie, collected 
 in Staulcs Parish, and paid in 10/. 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 John Parker, the younger, of this cittie, clothier, collected in 
 St. Marie's Parish, and paid in 11/. 18s. 6d. 
 
 John Sherston, since Alderman of this cittie, collected in 
 St. James's Parish, and paid in 12/. 
 
 The parishioners of St. Michael's without gate, among them, 
 gave 8/. 18s. 2d. 
 
 George Chapman and John Chapman, collected of Bachilers 
 towards the buyinge of the bell, 3/. 14s. 4d. 
 
 Thomas Bellott, Esquier, before mentioned, gave more to ward es 
 the said bell, 30/. 
 
 Sume of the money given to the Bell 81/. Is. 8d., whereof 80/. 
 was paid for the said Bell, and the rest, viz. 1/. Is. 8d. was 
 bestowed otherwise about this church work. 
 
 The sume total hitherto cometh to 595/. 15s. 8c?. Besides for 
 casting the same bell, 27/. 10s. 
 
 Besides two of the lower windowes glased and repaired still, 
 the one over the vestrie doore, by the Companie of Taylers of this 
 Cittie, the other in the West side of the crosse south isle, by 
 Richard Beacon, of this Cittie, tyler, who did all the tiling worke 
 from the first to the last upon this Church. 
 
 And besides all the galeries, the font, the partitions betweene 
 the body of the Church and the quire, the seates in the Chappell 
 for noblemen and men of worshipp, and the seates at the upper 
 
 ende of the quire for ladys and gentlemen of sort that 
 
 and the seats for the minister and clerke, all done at the charge of 
 the aforenamed Thomas Bellott. 
 
 The seates in the quire on the south and north sides thereof 
 were done at the Cittie's charge of 10/. 
 
 The said Thomas Bellot, besides all this, caused the great east 
 window of the quire to be repaired with mason's worke, with 
 smith's worke, and to be all glased at his only charge of 60/. 
 
 Benefactors to the Third Worke. 
 
 James Montague, Doctor in Divinitie, Bishoppe of Bathe and 
 Wells, gave at first 1000/. 
 
 Gilbert, Earle of Shrewsberrie, gave xx timber trees. 
 Thomas, Earle of SufFolke, gave fiftie tunne of timber. 
 William, Lord Compton, since Earle of Northampton, gave 40/. 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 George Rives, Doctor in Divinity, and Warden (with the 
 fellowes) of New College in Oxford, gave a goodlie oake that 
 grewe uppon their mannor of Cullerne, which yelded well neere 
 5 tunne of prime good timber, besides the topp and armes. The 
 said Doctor George Rives gave besides, of his own free gift, 5/. 
 
 Henry Hide, of Dyneton, in the Countie of Wilts, Esquire, 
 gave (into the bargaine of timber, bought of him at Trowbridge for 
 this Church,) three timber trees. 
 
 Francis, Earle of Rutland, gave to the glasynge of the first 
 upper windowe in the south side of the Church, and to the 
 other uses of the Church, 20/. 
 
 Francis Lord Norrys, at whose charge the second upper win- 
 dowe of that south side was glased. 
 
 The Lady Elizabeth, Barronesse of Hunsdon, at whose charge 
 the middlemost of those higher windowes was glased. 
 
 John May, of Charterhouse in this countie of Somersett, 
 Esquier, at whose charge the fower upper windowe of that side 
 was glased. 
 
 John Kerry, of Weston juxta Bathe, in this countie of Somer- 
 sett, Esquier, at whose charge the fift Westward of those upper 
 windowes was glased. 
 
 Francis James, Doctor of the Civil Laws, Chancellour of this 
 Diocese, at whose whole charge was glased the great windowe over 
 the great dore at the ende of the church. 
 
 The Lady Anne, Countesse Dowager of Dorsett, at whose 
 charge was glased the first upper windowe of the north side of the 
 bodie of the church. 
 
 Sir Robert Ritch, Knight, at whose charge was glased the 
 second upper windowe on the north side. 
 
 Sir Francis Seymour, Knight, at whose charge was glased the 
 middlemost of those upper windowes. 
 
 Sir Edward Rodney, of Rodney-stoke, within this countie of 
 Somersett, Knight, at whose charge was glased the fourth of those 
 upper windowes on the north side. 
 
 Francis Barber, of Chewe, within this countie of Somersett, 
 Esquier, at whose charge was glased the fift of the upper windowes 
 on the north side of the church. 
 
 Sir Maurice Bartlett, of Bruton, within this countie of Somer- 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 sett, Knight, at whose charge was glased the first of the upper 
 windowes eastward, of the south crosse isle. 
 
 George Speake the younger, of White-Lackington, within the 
 countie of Somersett, Esquier, at whose charge was repaired with 
 mason's worke, barred with iron and glased, the second easte 
 upper windowe of that south crosse isle. 
 
 Sir Hugh Smith, of Long-Aston, within this countie of Somer- 
 sett, Knight, at whose charge was glased the first upper windowe 
 on the west side of the afore-said crosse south isle. 
 
 Robert Baynard, of Lackhame, and Edward Reade of Cossam, 
 both of the countie of Wiltes, Esquiers, and brethren in Lawe, at 
 whose joynt charge was repaired with mason's worke, barred with 
 iron, and glased, the first of the upper windowes, in the east part 
 of the north crosse isle. 
 
 Sir James Ley, of Beckington, within this countie of Somer- 
 sett, Knight, and Attorney- General of the court of Wardes, at 
 whose charge was repaired with mason's worke, barred with iron, 
 and glased, the second upper windowe on the east side of the north 
 crosse isle. 
 
 James Bisse, of Batcomb, within this countie of Somersett, 
 Esquier, at whose charge was glased the first of the lower win- 
 dowes on the north side of the body of the church. 
 
 Thomas Norreys, of this cittie, Esquier, at whose charge was 
 glased the second of the lower windowes on that side. 
 
 William Plumly, of Newton St. Lowe, within this countie of 
 Somersett, gent., at whose charge was glased the middlemost of 
 those lower windowes on the north side of the body of the church . 
 
 William St. Barbe, Bacchalaur in Divinitie, and Prebender 
 of Hereford, at whose charge was glased the fourthe windowe, 
 westward, on the north side of the body of the church. 
 
 Michaell Mallett of Warwick, in the county Warwick, Esquier, 
 at whose charge was glased the fift windowe, : westward, on the 
 north side of the body of the church. 
 
 Philipp Welsh, of London, glasier, at whose charge was glased 
 the lower west windowe over the north dore, at entering into the 
 church. 
 
 William Bassett, of Claverton, in the countie of Somersett, 
 Esquier, at whose charge was glased the second of the lower win- 
 dowes on the south side of the body of the church. 
 
208 APPENDIX. 
 
 William Blanchard, of Kattheme, in this countie of Somersett, 
 Esquier, at whose charge was glased the second of the lower 
 windowes, on the south side of the bodie of the church. 
 
 John Barker, of Bristoll, Marchant, at whose charge was 
 glased the third, westward, of those lower windowes on the south 
 side of the bodie of the church. 
 
 Sir John Strafford, of Thornburie, in the countie of Gloucester, 
 Knio-ht, at whose charge was o-lased the fourth of those lower 
 windowes on the south side of the bodie of the church over the 
 doore into the Abbie Garden. 
 
 Benefactors to the repairinge of the lluines which were of the 
 Vaulting worke, and to the beautifying thereof, as it now is, with 
 the new ivalls and windowes of the two lower allies in the upper 
 part of the Church. 
 
 Edward, Earle of Worcester, at whese charge of xxl. was made 
 and beautified, that part of the vaulting worke over the great 
 wind owe in the south of the crosse isle. 
 
 The cittie of Bathe, at whose charge of was made all 
 
 the vaulting worke under the Tower. 
 
 The Citizens and inhabitants of Bathe, with the helpe of some 
 other good friends, at whose charge of were repaired and 
 
 beautified all the vaulting workes of the north crosse isle, and 
 of the quire of this churche, from the Tower eastward. The 
 names of these benefactors are upon a booke of purpose touching 
 that worke. 
 
 Miles Jackson of Combe-Harvay, in this countie of Somer- 
 sett, Esquire, at whose charge was repaired and beautified all the 
 vaulting worke of the north allie of the quire. 
 
 Thomas Power, Alderman and Maior of this cittie, by his last 
 will and testament gave 10/. 
 
 Nicholas Hide, Esquier, Recorder of this Cittie, gave 5/. 
 
 Thomas Lesson, one of the Phisitions of this cittie, by his last 
 will and testament gave 31. 
 
 The widdowe Gold, of Dorchester, in the countie of Dorsett, 
 administratrix to her husband, James Gold, who deceased in this 
 cittie, and lieth buried in this church, gave 51. 
 
 Al whiche in toto the summe of 23/. was bestowed uppon re- 
 pairing the greater part of the vaulting part of the lower southe 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 ile of the quire, and uppon the newe building of the ende wall of 
 the said ile, with the doree and window glased, as it all now 
 standeth. 
 
 Hugh Bayley, bone-setter, an inhabitant of this cittie, repaired 
 and beautified the lower part of the vaulting worke of the said 
 southe ile next the crosse ile. 
 
 Jefferay Flower, of Philipp's-Norton, in this countie of Somer- 
 sett, gentleman, at whose onely charge was built upp the newe 
 walle with the doore therein, and the windowe, as it now standeth, 
 at the east ende of the north allie of the quire. 
 
 Mr. Rocke, Alderman of the cittie of Rochester, in the countie 
 of Kente, gave 2/., which by his appoyntment was bestowed upon 
 the painting and beautefying of the doores and pillers at the first 
 entrance into the upper part of the church, all under the gallery 
 over the font. 
 
 Benefactors to the Paving of the Church. 
 
 Thomas Bellott at his onely charge caused all the crosse ile of 
 this Church to be paved. 
 
 Francis Allin, clothier, of this cittie, caused at his charge the 
 southe ile of the quire to be paved, 5/. 
 
 The Ladie Elizabeth Boothe, dwelling in this cittie, caused the 
 greatest part of the north ile of the said upper part of the church 
 to bee paved. The rest of the said ile was paved at the charge of 
 three sea-farynge men, whose names were Richard Stanly, John 
 Smith, and Ellis Wood. 
 
 John Webb, of Swaynsweeke, in the countie of Somersett, 
 gentleman, gave 10/. 
 
 Thomas Cox, of Corston, Gent., gave 3/. lO.s. 
 
 John Woode, Alderman of this cittie, gave 1/. 10s. 
 
 Mrs. Margaret Mannering, dwelling in this cittie with the 
 Lady Booth, by her last will, gave 1/. 
 
 Richard Davis, clerke, Parson of Swaynsweeke aforesaid, gave 1 /. 
 
 In toto the sume of 17/., which was bestowed uppon ihe 
 pavinge of the north allye of the bodie of this church. 
 
 The Ladie Hopton, of Whitham-Friary, in the countie of 
 Somersett, and Robert Hopton, Esq., her Bonn, with some other 
 
 F 
 
210 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 of her familic, have given the Greate Bell in the tower, which 
 came to the some of 160/. 
 
 The Ladie Rachell Hopton - - - - - £20 
 
 The Ladie Bacon, one of her daughters - 20 
 
 The Ladie Hubbard, one other of her daughters - - - 10 
 
 The Ladie Phettiplace, one other of her daughters - - - 10 
 
 The Ladie Banister, one other of her daughters - - 20 
 
 Mrs. Cole, one other of her daughters - - - /> 
 
 Mrs. Stanter, one other of her daughters - - • - - ' 5 
 
 Mr. Bingham, one of her sonn-in-lawes - - - ■ - 5 
 
 Mr. Earnly, one other of her sonn-in-lawes - - - 5 
 Mrs. Morgan, her grand-child - - - - --10 
 
 The Ladie Mackworth, one other of her grand-children - - 5 
 
 Mr. Robert Hopton, her sonn - - 20 
 
 Sir Ralph Hopton, her grandson, one of the knights of the Bath - 10 
 
 Mr. Thomas Hopton, her sonn - 5 
 
 Mr. Arthur Hopton, her sonn - 5 
 
 Sir Owen Smith, her grand-child 5 
 
 Some 1G0 
 And to perfect the said Bell, the Cittie of Bathe have laid 
 
 out the some of ----- CO 
 
 The Lady Elizabeth Poulett, the wife of Sir John Poulett, 
 of Winchester, in the countie of Hampton, Knight, gave to this 
 church, in September 1631, Three Pounds, which is laid out in 
 repaireing and makeing upp the stayers leadeing into the tower on 
 the south-east ile of the church. 
 
 One " fayre Bible," fol. in English ; Fox's " Acts and Monu- 
 ments of the Church," 2 vols, with " the deske and chaynes ;" 
 three " Bibles in French, Italian, and Spanish," with the 
 " chaynes and deske belonging to them ;" Minshieu's " Dic- 
 tionarie" of languages ; two volumes of the " learned Workes of 
 king James, the one in English, the other in Latin ;" D. Willet's 
 " Synopsis Papismi", and Pliny's " Naturall Historic," and six 
 " Books of Common Prair," with the Testament bound with them, 
 were also presented to this Church by different benefactors. 
 
ALPHABETICAL LIST 
 
 OF 
 
 DISTINGUISHED PERSONS 
 
 KntmcU in 33ath WbtQ CTIjurcIj*. 
 
 Alciiord, The Rev. Edward, D.D., died Jan. 11, 1652. 
 Aubery,Thc Rev. Edmund, Archdeacon of Wells, b. 1714; d. Nov. 7, 1757. 
 Avery, William, one of the Masters of the Bench of the Middle Tem- 
 ple, d. Oct. 17, 1745. 
 
 B. 
 
 *Baker, William, S.T.P., Bishop of Norwich, b. 1667 ; d. Dec. 4, 1732. 
 Baker, Sir William, M.P., a London merchant, b. Nov. 5, 1705 ; d. Jan. 
 
 23, 1770. 
 *Bates, Ely, Writer on Morals, d. Jan. 4, 1812. 
 *Bave, Samuel, M.D., b. at Cologne, 1588 ; d. Aug. 5, 1668. 
 *Beauvoir, Osmund, D.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., d. July 1, 1789. 
 Bedingfield, Lady Mary, daughter of Viscount Montague, and wife of 
 
 Sir Rich. B. of Oxburgh, Norfolk, Bart., b. 1733; d. Sept. 17, 1767. 
 Belingham, John, Esq., of Farnham, Sussex, d. 1577. 
 Bentham, Jeremy, author, d. Mar. 28, 1792. 
 Boothby, Sir William, Bart., a Major-General in the Army, and Colonel 
 
 of the 6th Regiment of Foot, d. 1787. 
 Bostock, Richard, M.D., d. Mar. 16, 1747. 
 *Bowles, John, d. 1819. 
 
 *Broome, William, LL.D., poet, d. Nov. 16, 1745. 
 Buck, Lady Anne, d. 1764. 
 Butt, John Martin, M.D., F.R.S., b. at Lichfield, Oct. 14, 1738 ; d. Oct. 
 
 18, 1769. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caldwell, Lady, wife of Sir John C, of Castle Caldwell, in Ireland, 
 b. 1756; d. Mar. 18, 1795. 
 
 Callis, Smith, Esq., Rear Admiral of the Blue, distinguished himself at 
 the battle of St. Tropez, b. 1709 ; d. Oct. 16, 1761. 
 
 Camplin, Thomas, LL.D., Archdeacon of Bath, and afterwards of Taun- 
 ton, b. 1756; d. Aug. 17, 1780. 
 
 Champion, Colonel Alexander, Chief Commander of the East India Com- 
 pany's troops in Bengal, d. Mar. 15, 1793. 
 
 Chapman, Peter, Military Officer at Tilbury Camp, in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth, b. 1506; d. Feb. 1602. 
 
 Chapman, Richard, Alderman of Bath, d. May 1, 1572. 
 
 Chapman, William, Mayor of Bath, d. Oct. 20, 1627. 
 
 Chapman, Robert, A.M., Rector of Walcot, b. 1702 ; d. 1728. 
 
 * Memoirsoftlicperson.swho.se names are thus marked (') will be found in 
 the preceding pages. 
 
212 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 Churchill, Lieut. -General Charles, Governor of Plymouth, b. 1679; 
 
 d. May 14, 1745. 
 Cranston,' Lady Elizabeth, 6. 1770; d. 1798. 
 Crowle, D.,Esq., M.P., Barrister at Law, b. 1699; d. June 21, 1757. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dauntsey, John, Physician, d. Feb. 1650. 
 'Derrick, Samuel, M.C. at Bath, Author, d. Mar. 28, 1769. 
 *Draper, Sir William, K.B., b. 1721 ; d. Jan. 1787. 
 Durell, John, Esq., Advocate General of Jersey, b. 1705 ; d. June 22, 
 1739. 
 
 E. 
 
 Elletson, Roger Hope, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, b. 1727 ; d. Nov. 
 
 28, 1775. 
 Ellis, Rev. John, LL.B., of Merionethshire, d. 1785. 
 Ernele, Walter, Esq., of Burton, Wiltshire, d. Sept. 27, 161S. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fawkener, Sir Everard, b. 1694 ; d. 1758. 
 
 "Fielding, Sarah, Author, b. 1714 ; d. April 1768. 
 
 Fleetwood, Sir Thomas, Bart., of Martin Sands, Cheshire, d. Dec. 1 802. 
 
 Frampton, Mary, daughter of Richard F., Esq., of Morton, Dorset, 
 
 b. Jan. 1, 1677; d. Sept. 6, 1698. 
 Frowde, Sir Philip, Knt., Colonel in the Army of Charles I., in the 
 
 Civil War, d. Aug. 6, 1674. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gambier, James, Vice Admiral, d. 1789. 
 
 Gethin, Lady Grace, Writer of Religious Tracts, wife of Sir Richard G., 
 of Gethin Grott, Ireland, Bart., b. 1676; d. Oct. 11, 1697. 
 
 •Glanvil, Joseph, Rector of Bath Abbey Church, b. 1632; d. 1680. 
 
 Godfrey, Charles, Esq., Colonel in the Army, Brother-in4aw to the Duke 
 of Marlborough, under whom he served in the Netherlands, b. 1648; 
 d. Feb. 23, 1714. 
 
 *Grenville, Hon. Henry, d. 1784. 
 
 Gresley, Sir Nigel, Bart., of Drakelow, in Derbyshire, d. 1787. 
 
 Grieve, James Tamesz, of Moscow, in Russia, d. 1787. 
 
 Grieye, Elizabeth, wife of Richard G., Esq., of Alnwick, Northum- 
 berland, d. Nov. 7, 1752. 
 
 Griffith, Guyon, D.D., Divine, d. 1784. 
 
 *Guidott, Thomas, M.D., Physician and Author, d. 1701. 
 
 H. 
 
 ♦Harington, Henry, M.D., Poet and Musician, b. Sept. 29, 1727 ; d. Jan. 
 
 15, 1816. 
 •Haweis, Thomas, LL.D., Divine, b. 1733 ; d. 1820. 
 Hickes, Robert Adams, Divine, d. 1788. 
 Honeywood, Eliz. d. 1812. 
 
 Honeywood, John, M.A., Divine- 
 
 Houston, Sir Patrick//. 1785. 
 
 •Howlctt, The Rev. John, Author, d. Feb. 29, 1804. 
 
NAMES OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS. 213 
 
 Hudson, Henry, d. 1789. 
 
 Hughes, Robert, Esq., Rear Admiral of the Red, 6. 1717 ; d. Jan. 15, 
 1774. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ivy, Sir George, Knt., of West Kington, Wiltshire, d. 1639. 
 
 J. 
 
 James, Charles, D.D., Divine, d. 1695. 
 
 Jephson, William, Serjeant at Law, d. 1772. 
 
 Jcrningham, Sir John, Bart., of Cossey Hall, Norfolk, b. 1679; d. June 
 
 14, 1737. 
 Morden, Edward, M.D., b. 1569; d. 1632. 
 
 K. 
 
 Katencamp, Herman, British Consul in Spain, b. at Exeter, Sept. 20, 1750 ; 
 d. March 23, 1807. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lapworth, Edward, M.D., d. May 24, 1636. 
 
 Legh, Calveley, M.D., Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford, b. 1682; 
 
 d. April 25, 1727. 
 Lcyborne, Rebecca, wife of Dr. Robert Leyborne, b. June 4, 1698; 
 
 d. Feb. 18, 1756. 
 Leyborne, Robert, D. D., Rector of St. Dunstan's, Stepney, and 
 
 St. Ann's, Middlesex ; and Principal of Alban-Hall, Oxford ; d. 1759. 
 Lychfield, Thomas, Lutanist to Queen Elizabeth, d. 1 6th Century. 
 
 M. 
 
 *Maclaine, Archibald, L.L.D., Divine and Author, d. 1804. 
 
 Madan, Lieut. Col. Martin, Groom of the Bedchamber to Frederick, 
 Prince of Wales, b. 1701 ; d. March 4, 1756. 
 
 *Maplet, M.D., John, b. 1615; d. Aug. 10, 1670. 
 
 Martyn, Esq., Thomas, of Exeter, d. September 10, 1627. 
 
 Masham, Lady Damaris, wrote on Morals, daughter of Dr. Ralph Cud- 
 worth, and wife of Six Francis Masham, of Oates, in Essex, Bart. ; 
 b. June 18, 1658; d. April 20, 1708. 
 
 Mason, Robert, LL. D., Master of the Rolls, in the Reigns of Charles I. 
 &IL, fc 1589; d. 1662. 
 
 *Melmoth, William, Lawyer and Author, b. 1690 ; d. 1779. 
 
 Meredyth, Col. Henry, of Ireland, d. 1715. 
 
 *Meyler, William, Poet, &c, d. 1821. 
 
 Mii>liovaccio, Jacobo Antonio, from Florence, in Italy, d. 1704. 
 
 *Millcr, Lady, Writer of Travels, wife of Sir John Miller, Bart, of 
 Bath Easton, b. 1740 ; d. June 24, 1781. 
 
 *Montague, James, Bishop of Bath and Wells, b. 1568 ; d. July 20, 1618. 
 
 N. 
 
 •Nash, R., Esq. b. October 18, 1674 ; d. Feb. 3, 1761. 
 Norton, Colonel Ambrose, Cousin-gcrman of Sir George Norton, of 
 Abbot's Leigh, Somerset, b. 1646; d. September 10, 1723. 
 
 O. 
 'Oliver, William, M.D. F.R.S., Author, d. April 4, 1716. 
 
214 BATH ABBEY CHURCH. 
 
 P. 
 
 *Palmer, Esq. John, M.P., d. 1818. 
 
 *Parrv, Caleb Hillicr, M.D. F.R.S., d. 1822. 
 
 •Pelling, John, B.D., d. Feb. 19,1620. 
 
 Pennington, Hon. Lady, sister of Henry, Viscount Lonsdale, and wife 
 
 of Sir Joseph Pennington, of Muncaster, Cumberland, Baronet, 
 
 d. Sept. 15, 1738. 
 Phelips, Robert, Esq., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, b. Feb. 
 
 5, 1618; d. June 21, 1707. 
 Philipp9, Sir Erasmus, Bart., M.P., of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire, 
 
 b. 1700; d. October 14, 1743. 
 Poole, David, Esq. Serjeant at Law, b. 1703 ; d. October 29, 1762. 
 *Porter, Walsh, Esq., Amateur, d. 1809. 
 *Postlethwaite, Thomas, D.D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 
 b. 1733: d. May 4, 1798. 
 *Pownall, Thomas, Antiquary, d. Feb. 25, 1805. 
 
 Q. 
 
 *Quin, James, Actor, b. 1693 ; d. 1766. 
 
 R. 
 
 *Rauzzini, Venanzio, Musician, b. 1748 ; d. April 8, 1810. 
 
 S. 
 
 Saunders, Erasmus, D.D., Prebendary of Rochester, b. 1716; d. 
 
 December 29, 1775. 
 *Shadwell, Sir John, M.D. F.R.S., Physician to George I., b. London, 
 
 1670; d. 1747. 
 Sherwood, John, M.D., d. Feb. 1620. 
 Shrewsbury, Elizabeth, Countess of, daughter of John, Lord Dormer, 
 
 b. 1724; d. August 1809. 
 •Sibthorp, John, M.D. F.R.S., b. 1672; d. 1800. 
 Stewart, William, Brigadier General, distinguished himself at the 
 
 Battle of Almanza, d. November 10, 1736. 
 Stibbs, Edward, Chester Herald, b. at Bath, 1681 ; (/.January 10, 1739. 
 *Stubbe, Henry, Physician and Author, d. 1676. 
 Swinburne, Sir John, Bart., of Capheaton, Northumberland, b. 1697; 
 
 d. January 8, 1744. 
 
 T. 
 
 Temple, Sir Richard, Bart., a Commissioner of the Navy, and afterwards 
 one of the Commissioners of the Revenue at New York, d. 1786. 
 
 "Thicknesse, Ralph, M.A., Divine and Musician, d. October 11, 1742. 
 
 *Thomas, the Rev. Josiah, Archdeacon of Bath, d. 1822. 
 
 Thomson, Sir Alexander, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer, 
 d. April 15, 1817. 
 
 Townsend, Hon. Edw.,D.D., Dean of Norwich, b. 1720; d. Jan. 1765. 
 
 V. 
 "Vomer, Tobias, M.D., d. 1660. 
 
 W. 
 
 •Wall, John, M.D., b. 1709; d. January 27, 1770. 
 
NAMES OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS. 215 
 
 Waller, Lady Jane, wife of Sir William Waller, Knightf, a General 
 Officer in the Parliamentary Army during the Civil Wars. 
 
 Wally, John, Mayor of Bath, d. April 4, 1615. 
 
 Walsh, Lieut. Coi., Robert, b. 1722 ; d. September 12, 1788. 
 
 Webb, John, Esq., son of Sir John Webb, Bart., of Conford, Dorset, 
 b. 1700; d. March 9, 1745. 
 
 Wentworth, Lady, daughter of John, Viscount Lonsdale, and wife of 
 Sir John Wentworth, of Yorkshire, b. 1676; d. April 16, 1706. 
 
 Wyvil, Sir Marmaduke Astey, Bart., of Burton Constable, Yorkshire, 
 . b. February 6, 1742 ; d. February 23, 1774. 
 
 *Zea, Don Antonio Francisco, Agent of the Colombian Republic in 
 Europe, d. 1823. 
 
 f Seward, in his "Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons," states that " Sir William 
 Waller was buried in the Abbey Church, Bath," vol. i. p. 402. He was, however, 
 interred in a Chapel, in Tothill Street, Westminster. See Chalmers's Biog. Drct. 
 
 Having accidentally omitted the name of John Bowles, in the preceding 
 pages, I am induced to introduce a short notice of him in this place. 
 
 John Bowles, B.L. (ob. 1819,) a distinguished political writer, was 
 the son of Mr. John Bowles, an eminent print-seller in Cornhill. He 
 was educated as a lawyer, and admitted to the degree of Bachelor of 
 Laws in the University of Douay, March 25, 1779, and to that of 
 Licentiate in the same University, May 11, 1781. At the early part 
 of the French Revolution, when the late Thomas Paine, and other 
 similar writers, attacked the established religion and government of the 
 country, Mr. Bowles zealously opposed them, and as warmly defended 
 the " existing order of things." He published several pamphlets and 
 occasional papers ; in one of which, entitled " A Protest against Paine's 
 Rights of Man," he urged, with energy, the strongest arguments against 
 the delusive doctrines of that mischievous work. A society formed for the 
 protection of liberty and property against republicans and levellers, which 
 then met at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, contributed to give great 
 popularity to this well-timed pamphlet, by ordering it to be printed and 
 sold at a cheap rate, with a view of disseminating it among the lower orders 
 of the people. 
 
 Mr. Bowles was a Barrister at Law, residing at Dulwich, in Surrey, 
 for which county he was a Justice of the Peace and Quorum. He was 
 also a Commissioner of Bankrupts ; and for some time one of the Com- 
 missioners for the Sale of Dutch Prizes. Having taken lodgings in 
 Queen Square, Bath, he died there October 30, 1819, at the age of 66, 
 and was interred in the Abbey Church, where a marble tablet, inscribed 
 with a Latin epitaph, is erected to his memory. His publications are 
 very numerous, and almost wholly relate to the party politics of the times 
 in which he lived. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbet Church, originally a Roman 
 Temple, 12 — 14 ; history in Saxon 
 times, 165 — 25 ; rebuilt, 27 ; gifts 
 to the foundation, 28 — 30 ; sub- 
 ordinate to Wells, 36 ; styled 
 St. Peter's and St. Paul's, 37, 
 note ; surrendered, with the at- 
 tached Monastery, to Henry VIII., 
 41 ; its dilapidated state, 46 ; re- 
 built by Bishop Oliver King, 47 — 
 53 ; offered for sale, 54 ; given to 
 the Corporation of Bath, ib. ; par- 
 tially repaired, 55, 56 ; restored by 
 Bishop Montague and others, 57 — 
 62 ; its outward appearance im- 
 proved, 62 — 65 ; not a Cathedral 
 Church, 72 ; made parochial, 73 ; 
 described by Fuller, ib. ; remarks 
 on its general plan, 74 ; descrip- 
 tion of, by Wood, 75 — 78 ; archi- 
 tectural account of, with references 
 to the prints, and observations 
 upon its monuments, 78 — 91 ; 
 Biographical notices of persons 
 interred here, 121 — 196. 
 
 Baths, 30; the original Roman 
 
 Thermce, 65 ; described, 66. 
 
 House, or Priory built, 21 ; 
 
 sold, 54 ; pulled down, 66. 
 
 Abbots of Bath in Saxon times, 20--23. 
 
 Acamanni, Acemannes-cestre, &c, 
 ancient names of Bath, 16. 
 
 Adelard or Athelard, a monk, 41. 
 
 Adrian, Bishop, his arms, 81, 
 
 Alfred, King, 18, 19. 
 
 Allen, Rev. Dr., 158. 
 
 Amelia, Princess, note, 137. 
 
 Anstey, Christ., lines by, 145, note ; 
 memoir, 160 — 163. 
 
 John, 163. 
 
 Antiquities, Roman, 10; 11 — 14. 
 
 Aquae-Calidae, and Aquan-Solis, an- 
 cient names of Bath, 10. 
 
 Arms of Bath, mistake concerning, 
 
 42, 43, note. 
 Athelstan, his grants to Bath, 19. 
 
 Baker, W., Bishop, memoir of,132. 
 
 Bamfylde, C. W., 161. 
 
 Bates, Ely, memoir of, 170. 
 
 Bath, its origin and early history, 
 1 — 14 ; etymology of the name, 
 10; Roman Temple 11; subju- 
 gated by the Saxons, 16 ; Abbey 
 founded, 16 — 17 ; taken by the 
 Danes, 23, note ; plundered, 25 ; 
 made a Bishop's See, ib. ; granted 
 to Bishop Villula, 26 ; burnt, 31; 
 surrendered to Rich. Coeur de 
 Lion, 34 ; leased to the Prior, and 
 given to the see of Bath and 
 Wells, 38 ; general description 
 of, 69 — 72 ; arms, 81, note. 
 
 < and Wells, Bishop of, when first 
 
 so called, 32. 
 
 Baths at Bath, their legendary 
 origin, 6 — 8. 
 
 Roman, described, 65, 66. 
 
 Bave, Dr. Samuel, memoir of, 127. 
 
 Beauvoir, Dr. Os., memoir of, 153. 
 
 Bellingham, John, his tomb, 79. 
 
 Bellott, Thomas, repaired the Church, 
 56 — 59 ; anecdote of, 57. 
 
 Bells, ringing of, at Bath, dispute 
 concerning, 40. 
 
 Bimberries, or St. Cath. Hos. 44. 
 
 Birde, Prior, assists in rebuilding 
 the Church, 40 ; ibid, 50 ; con- 
 founded with Prior Hollewaye, 
 alias Gybbs, 50, note ; his arms, 
 67 ; his chapel, 79 ; described, 
 88—92. 
 
 Bladud, his legendary history, 19. 
 
 Books, Saxon, given to Bath Ch., 20. 
 
 Broome, Dr. Wm., memoir of, 134. 
 
 Burleigh, Lord, 56. 
 
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 RUSSIAN VIEWS OF 
 AGGRESSION 
 
 EAST EUROPE MAIN 
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 PLEDGES IN WEST 
 MAY BE DROPPED 
 
 By A DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT 
 
 The new instructions which have 
 been sent by the British Government 
 to Moscow, where the Anglo-French- 
 Soviet Pact talks were resumed 
 yesterday, will, it is hoped, bring 
 matters to a head. 
 
 They have been drafted in consulta- 
 tions with the French Government, and 
 they leave our Ambassador, Sir William 
 Seeds, considerable latitude in matters 
 of detail. 
 
 New difficulties raised by the Soviet 
 Government in the most recent discus- 
 sions are not merely obstacles, but 
 threaten a slipping back in the negotia- 
 tions. 
 
 Though Britain and France had ad- 
 vanced to meet Russia on the question 
 of guarantees to cover the Baltic States, 
 the Soviet raised difficulties about reci- 
 procal guarantees in respect of Holland 
 and Switzerland on the west. The sug- 
 gestion was also put forward that Poland 
 and Turkey should join in guarantees to 
 Russia. 
 
 RUSSIA'S IDEAS 
 
 The chief difficulty that has been 
 encountered, however, is in regard to 
 Russian ideas about indirect aggression. 
 
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 rect aggression against smaller States 
 which threatens the security of the sig- 
 natories to the Pact should be met by 
 joint resistance and mutual aid. 
 
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 Moscow that indirect aggression should 
 be so defined as to produce action by the 
 throe Powers in the event of the inter- 
 ests of any one of them being affected by 
 an internal coup d'etat in an adjoining 
 State. 
 
 Neither the British nor the French 
 Government could acquiesce in such an 
 arrangement, which might involve inter- 
 ference with the internal affairs of any 
 of the Baltic States, for example. 
 
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 ously against being "guaranteed" 
 
 and have perhaps been a little unfair to 
 
 the motives of the British Government. 
 
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