him, and gave him a draught for ten guineas. Forty-eight hours afterwards, I heard of his getting drunk at the Ring of Bells, in the next village, and boasting how gloriously he had gulled old Daubeny!"

BENNETT, (WILLIAM, Bishop of Cloyne,) was born in 1745, near London, and educated at Harrow school and Emmanuel college, Cambridge. After having taken the degrees of B. A. and M. A., he obtained a fellowship, and became tutor of his college. Among his pupils was the Earl of Westmoreland, who, on being nominated lord-lieutenant of Ireland, took him to Dublin, in the capacity of chaplain; and, in 1790, promoted him to the united bishoprics of Cork and Ross; from which, having previously taken the degrees of B. D. and D. D., he was translated, in 1794, to the see of Cloyne. He married a daughter of the Rev. N. Mapletoft, of Northamptonshire, but died without issue, on the 16th of July, 1820. Although a profound scholar, and a man of great abilities, his literary labours appear to have consisted chiefly of communications to the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was a fellow, and of hints to Nichols and Polwhele, for their respective histories of Leicestershire and Cornwall. Parr, who was his cotemporary at Harrow, after eulogising his pure and correct taste, extensive classical acquirements, powers of eloquence as a preacher, brilliancy of conversation, and suavity of manners, &c. thus continues:-"He exhibited a noble proof of his generosity, by refusing to accept the legal and customary profits of his office from a peasantry bending down under the weight of indigence and exaction. Upon another occasion, blending mercy with justice, he spared a misguided father for the sake of a distressed dependent family; and provided, at the same time, for the instruction of a large and populous parish, without pushing to extremes his episIcopal rights when invaded, and his episcopal power when defied."

Dr.

SHIPLEY, (WILLIAM DAVIES, Dean of St. Asaph,) son of Dr. Jonathan Shipley, bishop of that diocese, was born at Midgham, in Berkshire, on the 5th of October, 1745. He received his

education at Westminster school, Winchester college, and Christchurch, Oxford. He took the degree of B. A. in 1767, and that of M. A. in 1771; during which year he was presented, by his father, to the vicarage of Wrexham, in Denbighshire; and, in 1774, he obtained the deanery and chancellorship of St. Asaph. By circulating an obnoxious pamphlet, which had been anonymously published against the Tory ministers, by his brother-in-law, Sir William Jones, entitled, A Dialogue between a Farmer and a Country Gentleman, he exposed himself to a long and vexatious prosecution for libel; which, after having been twice brought to trial in Wales, was removed by certiorari to the court of King's Bench, and submitted to an English jury, at the Shrewsbury assizes, on the 6th of August, 1784. The verdict delivered was, "Guilty of publishing only" which, however, at the suggestion of counsel for the prosecution, was afterwards altered to the following terms: Guilty of publishing, but whether a libel or not, we do not find." The matter was subsequently brought before the Court of King's Bench, where, through an informality, the whole of the proceedings were quashed. It will not, perhaps, be deemed altogether irrelevant to add, that to this contest may be attributed the enactment, by which juries, in cases of libel, were declared to be judges of the law as well as the fact. In the preface to a collection of his father's works, published in 1792, the dean advocated the opinions promulgated in the pamphlet, for the re-publication of which he had been prosecuted. He died on the 7th of June, 1826, leaving four children, by his wife, Penelope, eldest daughter of Ellis Yonge, Esq. By those who knew him, he is described as having been intellectual, independent. and eminently charitable; eloquent as a preacher; diligent and acute, yet merciful, as a magistrate; and truly estimable "in the more domestic relations of husband, parent, brother, master, and friend."

JACKSON, (CYRIL,) Dean of Christchurch, was born at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in 1746. At the age of twelve, he was sent to Westminster school; where, in 1760, he became a king's scholar. Four years afterwards,

he was elected to Trinity college, Cambridge, and subsequently obtained a studentship at Christchurch, Oxford. In 1768, he took the degree of B. A., and that of M. A. in 1771; during which year, he was appointed subpreceptor to the young heir-apparent and his next brother. In 1777, he took the degree of B. D.; and, in 1778, became preacher at Lincoln's inn, and canon of Christchurch. In 1781, he proceeded to the degree of D. D.; and, in 1783, he was declared dean of his college. After acting in that capacity for twenty-six years, during which period, he refused, on two occasions, to be raised to the episcopal bench, he retired to Felpham, an obscure village in Sussex, where he died, in possession of no preferment, on the 31st day of August, 1819. He was a man of profound learning and great abilities, (although he never appeared as an author,) and so high was his reputation for academical discipline, that while he was dean, an unexpected vacancy, in his college, is said to have been always a subject of eager competition. "I have long thought," said Dr. Parr, in 1800," and often declared, that the highest station in the church would not be more than an adequate reward for Cyril Jackson. Upon petty and dubious questions of criticism, I may not always have the happiness to agree with him; but I know that, with magnanimity enough to refuse two bishoprics, he has qualities of head and heart to adorn the primacy of all England, and to protect all the substantial interests of the English church." By Porson, he was greatly admired; and, soon after his retirement from Christchurch, the provost of Oriel college described him as one who had drunk largely at the fountain of modern science, as well as of ancient learning; who never ceased to encourage, to direct, and to assist those around him in every honourable pursuit. The Reverend George Croly states, that he amused himself, after he had given up his deanery, by occasional visits to his old friends in London, or to the prince at Brighton, by whom he was aways received with scarcely less than filial respect, and then returned to his obscure, but amiable and meritorious, life of study, charity, and prayer. The

same writer remarks, that for Jackson's refusal of the Irish primacy, although it was idly blazoned forth at the time as an act of more than Roman virtue, the following obvious reasons existed:"his income was large, his duty light, and his time of life too far advanced to make change easy or dignified."

SCOTT, (THOMAS,) was born at Wingtoft, in Lincolnshire, in 1747. At the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed by his father, who was a farmer, to a surgeon at Alford, with whom, however, he remained only two months. By dint of close application, he obtained a considerable knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages; and, being ordained by Bishop Green, he, for some time, held the curacies of Weston Underwood, and Ravenstow, Bucks. In 1785, he was appointed chaplain of the Lock chapel; and, in 1801, rector of Aston Sandford, where he died, on the 16th of April, 1821. Newton, the friend of Cowper, is said to have made him a convert to Calvinism; in defence of which he rendered himself very conspicuous, both as a preacher and a writer. He published A Commentary on the Bible; A Defence of Calvinism; The Force of Truth; and various other pieces.

FISHER, (JOHN, Bishop of Salisbury,) was born at Hampton, in Middlesex, in 1748, and completed his education at Peterhouse college, Cambridge. He took his degree of B. A. in 1770, with much credit; and, two years afterwards, he obtained an appropriated fellowship at St. John's. After having proceeded to the degree of M. A. in 1773, he became a tutor of his college; and obtained several students of distinction. His first preferment was to the curacy of Hampton, in which he had officiated but for a short time, when the mastership of his college becoming vacant, he was assailed, by ministers, with entreaties, threats, and promises, to vote in favour of Dr. Beadon; but a sense of his duty, it is said, induced him to support the rival candidate, Dr. Chevalier. Such conduct would, it was supposed, have tended to shut him out from preferment: it had, however, a very different effect; Bishop Hurd being so charmed with his integrity, as to procure him

He

the appointment of tutor to Prince Edward, afterwards Duke of Kent. In 1780, he proceeded to the degree of B. D. and was made one of the royal chaplains in ordinary, and deputy-clerk of the closet. In 1785, he went to Italy for the benefit of his health; and, on his return in the following year, the king presented him to a canonry of Windsor. In 1789, he proceeded to the degree of D. D.; in 1803, he was promoted to the see of Exeter; at the latter end of the same year, he entered upon the important task of tutor to the Princess Charlotte; and, in 1807, he was translated to the diocese of Salisbury. He was also chancellor of the order of the Garter, vice-president of the Bible Society, and F. S. A. died on the 8th of May, 1825, leaving three children, by his wife, Dorothea, only daughter of J. F. Scrivenor, Esq. to whom he was united in 1787. He meddled but little with public affairs, except so far as regarded the claims of the catholics, which he invariably opposed; "because," as he stated, "their object seemed to be rather the attainment of civil power, than religious toleration." His printed productions consist of a few discourses on public occasions, which, it is said, the authority of custom alone induced him to publish. His talents, though not brilliant, were more than respectable. As a prelate and a tutor, he invariably evinced a laudable anxiety for the proper performance of his duties.

He

was urbane, vivacious, modest, and eminently benevolent: but the most striking points in his character were his perfect disinterestedness, and the admirable suavity of his temper. Some time before his decease, he declined to renew an episcopal lease, lest, by so doing, he should injure his successor, who is said to have consequently realized no less than £30,000. He suc

ceeded, by his mildness, in allaying, to a great extent, the fiery impetuosity of the Princess Charlotte. It is stated, that he earnestly implored her, whenever she found her passion getting the better of her reason, to repeat the following lines from Pope :

Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others shew,
That mercy shew to me'

On one occasion, it is added, finding her in the act of vehemently scolding a young female domestic, who stood trembling before her, and not daring to quit her presence, he asked the princess, if, previously to giving vent to her wrath, she had remembered his recommendation as to the passage in Pope. "No," replied her royal highness; "I was in too great a passion to recollect that or any thing else." He then repeated the lines himself; and applied them, it is said, so admirably to the occasion, that his young pupil burst into tears; and spontaneously sending for the offender, who had previously been directed to retire, in the most feeling manner, apologized for her violence.

BATHURST, (HENRY, Bishop of Norwich,) son of the Right Honourable Bragge Bathurst, was born in 1748, and acquired the rudiments of education at Winchester school, whence he was removed, in 1761, to New college, Oxford; where he took the degree of B. C. L. in 1768, and that of D. C. L. in 1776, His only preferments in the church, prior to his elevation to the bishopric of Norwich, which occurred in 1805, were the vicarage of Cirencester, a benefice in the gift of his family; a canonry of Christchurch, Oxford; and a prebend of Durham. He delivered his maiden speech, from the episcopal bench, on the 27th of May, 1808, in support of Lord Grenville's proposed measure in favour of the catholics, for whose emancipation he subsequently became one of the most fervent advocates. He has also evinced the liberality of his political and religious opinions, by his exertions in favour of parliamentary reform, and concessions to the dissenters. He is greatly respected for his independence and amiable qualities; but has no pretensions to eminence, either as an author or an orator. His

publications consist of a few sermons, preached on special occasions. By his wife, Grace, a niece of Sir Eyre Coote, and daughter of the Dean of Kilfenora, he has several children, by whom he is said to be deservedly beloved.

O'BEIRNE, (THOMAS LEWIS, Bishop of Meath,) the son of a farmer, and a native of Ireland, was born in

1748. His parents, who were catholics, after he had obtained the rudiments of learning at the diocesan school of Ardagh, sent him to St. Omer, where he appears to have highly distinguished himself by his application and talents. He had been educated with a view to his entering the Romish priesthood; which, however, on the completion of his academical studies, he not only declined to do, but, after publicly renouncing the religion of his forefathers, be took orders in the church of England, and entered himself of Trinity college, Cambridge; where, in due course, he obtained his divinity degrees. The Rev. George Croly seems to attribute his change of religion to the following circumstance: - While returning home from a visit to some friends in England, he stopped at a village-inn, and ordered a shoulder of mutton, the only meat in the house, to be dressed for his dinner. Before the joint was roasted, two other travellers arrived, who prevailed on the landlady to consent that it should be served up at their own table. "The young Irishman above stairs," however, on being apprised of the arrangement, vehemently protested that no two travellers on earth should deprive him of his dinner; but, at the same time, declared that he should feel happy to have their company. The invitation was accepted; and, O'Beirne," then a very handsome young man, and always a very quick, anecdotical, and intelligent one," so fascinated his guests, that in the course of the evening, which appears to have been jovially passed, they inquired, "what he meant to do with himself?" He replied, that he was destined for the Irish priesthood; which, however, his companions protested would not afford sufficient scope for his abilities; and, on their departure, they requested him to call upon them in London, at the same time, avowing themselves to be Charles James Fox and the Duke of Portland. "Such an invitation," adds Croly, "was not likely to be declined: his two distinguished friends kept their promise honourably; and, in a short period, O'Beirne enjoyed all the advantages of the first society in the empire." By other writers, his conversion to protestantism is attributed chiefly to Bishop Hinchcliffe; through whose interest, it is stated, he

obtained the college vicarage of Grimdon; and, in 1776, the appointment of flag-chaplain to Lord Howe, whom he accompanied to America; and in whose vindication from certain charges which were brought forward against him, he published a pamphlet, soon after their return to this country, entitled, The Gleam of Comfort. He now became a zealous adherent to the Portland party; and, after having obtained the vicarage of West Deeping, he distinguished himself as a spirited contributor to The Englishman, a paper which appears to have been the organ of his political connexions. The Duke of Portland rewarded his exertions by appointing him his chaplain, when nominated lordlieutenant of Ireland; making him his private secretary; procuring him a royal chaplaincy; and presenting him, on the last day of his premiership, to two valuable livings in the gift of the crown, which he subsequently resigned, on obtaining, through the duke's interest, the rich benefices of Temple Michael and Mohill, from the Archbishop of Tuam. He subsequently became chaplain and private secretary to Earl Fitzwilliam, during the vicegerency of that nobleman; by whom, in 1795, he was raised to the see of Ossory, from which his translation to that of Meath took place in 1798. He died on the 15th day of February, 1823, having had a son and two daughters by his wife, who was a niece of the Earl of Moray. As a diocesan, he was much beloved by his clergy; many of whom were in the habit of travelling a considerable distance to attend his lectures on topics of religious controversy. His first charge is said to have been unrivalled for apostolic doctrine and pastoral simplicity. Besides his contributions to The Englishman, he wrote several political pieces, with the signature of A Country Gentleman, which appeared in a work under that title, published by Almon. He also published a pamphlet against the proposed commercial regulations in 1785, of which he is said to have been "the extinguisher;" The Crucifixion, a poem; An Ode to Lord Northampton; The Generous Impostor, a comedy; occasional tracts, sermons, and charges; and some parts of the Probationary Odes and Rolliad. It is stated, to his honour, that he always evinced an amiable spirit