his zeal for the college, and his kindest wishes for all its youthful occupants; while the Bishop of Gloucester testified both his private regard for his friend, and his public sense of the merits of the Wykehamist Bishop, by granting more than was requested; a decision which he communicated in the accompanying letter.

MY DEAR FRiend,

THE young men were much gratified by your epistle. I deem it of consequence that they should be deeply impressed with a sense of the effects which arise from laudable exertions. I have therefore given them a fortnight; one week to you as a Wykehamist, and one to my friend. The inclosed is my formal and official answer.

Your ever affectionate friend,

W. C., July 7. 1803.

G. J. GLOUCESTER.

MY LORD,

I AM honoured with your Lordship's application. The interest I take in the prosperity of every deserving Wykehamist will induce me to give one week; and the personal respect I feel for your Lordship will prompt me to add a second.

I trust the scholars of this college will retain a

P

due sense of your kindness, and look up to your example as an object for their imitation.

I am, my Lord,

Your Lordship's affectionate Friend and Servant,

G. J. GLOUCESTER.

Winton College, July 7. 1803.

CHAP. XVI.

SETTLEMENT OF THE BISHOP IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. HIS PRIMARY CHARGE.

DAVID'S.

1803 and 1804.

In the autumn of 1803 the Bishop of St. David's took possession of Abergwilly Palace. Situated two miles from Carmarthen, in the vale of Towy, on the edge of the river of that name, amidst meadows of exquisite verdure, skirted by lofty wooded acclivities, this peaceful residence was in perfect accordance with the taste of its new occupant. Its rural beauties and secluded character delighted him, and his love of the picturesque found ample scope in the scenery of the neighbourhood. His predecessor in the see, Lord George Murray, had much improved and beautified the principal apartments of the palace, but it was substantially in great want of repair; and in many respects its defects proved incurable. The passing traveller must not judge of what it was during the occupancy of Bishop Burgess, by the elegant and spacious mansion which now forms the palace. This has been exclusively the work of Dr. Jenkinson, the present

bishop, who has also added much to the beauty of the pleasure grounds by judicious improvements. At the time to which we refer, it was a large, straggling house, cheerful in its appearance, but without any pretension to architectural character and effect.

The year 1803 closed before the Bishop found himself comfortably settled in his new residence. His primary visitation of the diocese took place in the year 1804. During the preceding months he had made himself fully acquainted with its condition, and had anxiously reflected upon the best means of exerting himself for its improvement.

The charge which he delivered on that occasion was equally beautiful and impressive. He touched upon the high responsibility attached to the cure of souls, with the earnestness of one who deeply felt its weight; but he more especially dwelt upon the happiness arising out of the mixture of studious, peaceful habits, and active duties naturally connected with the clerical profession. In dilating on this subject, he had the advantage of speaking from intimate experience. At Winston he had himself acted the conscientious part which he now recommended to others, and had largely tasted of the pure and elevated happiness which he depictured. So faithfully, indeed, does this charge reflect the image of his own feelings, tastes, and predilections, that we shall further the object of this memoir, as a portraiture of his character, by intro

ducing a brief analysis of some of its most interesting and impressive passages.

He makes, at the outset, some striking reflections upon the testimony borne by the experience of all ages to the vanity of every scheme of human happiness which is not based upon religion. He then refers to the witness of the Royal Psalmist · to the same truth, and cites various sublime passages in which David declares that in the love, the service, and the favour of God, he found the alone adequate object of his soul's noblest powers and affections. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

For the attainment of happiness thus deeply founded, the Christian minister, he proceeds to prove, enjoys singular advantages. His profession naturally keeps him aloof from the violence of civil discords and contentions, and the law fortunately disables him from those competitions of interest, those hazards of commercial speculation, which tend to fill the mind with uncharitable selfishness and irreligious anxiety. The opportunities for mental advancement and for self-inspection which he possesses, may be improved to the most valuable ends; and if, as is often the case, the scene of his clerical labours happens to be a retired situation in the country, he may convert this allotment of Provi