near to it. The account of Merton College is in general accurate, except that towards the end, that moft acute of critics, Mr. Tyrwhitt is not faid to have been a Fellow of Merton, which he was, and is faid to have been a scholar of Queen's, which he could hardly be, not being a native of Weftmoreland or Cumberland *.

It is well worthy of remark, and Mr. Chalmers will probably give it notice in a future edition, that from this inftitution of Walter de Merton, in founding his college at Ox-. ford, may be derived the effential and important difference which fubfifts between the two Universities of England, and the academical eftablishments of all other countries; if we except Trinity College in Dublin, which is alfo a branch from this flock. In Oxford and Cambridge, before the time of Walter de Merton, the ftudents lived in various inns or halls, fubject to the controul, as to conduct, of the principal or head of the houfe; but being taught folely by the graduates, in that faculty in which they were proceeding. They lived entirely at their own expence, no alleviation having yet been devifed by any friend to learning. In the convents, indeed, were endowed fchools. Profefforfhips were not yet established. But when this worthy Bifhop and Chancellor had fet the example, other inftitutions followed, at both Univerfities. Some benefactors even carried their munificence further, and eftablifhed previous fchools, from which the scholars were to be removed to the college which they had founded in the Univerfity. Of this latter defcription was the famous William of Wykeham, a part of whofe im. portant Memoirs we fhall prefently give, in the words of Mr. Chalmers. All this fyflem of education, however, it fhould be obferved, is entirely peculiar to England; and though it has been rafhly cenfured by fome who have been educated under other inftitutions, it is certainly ftamped with every characteristic of a noble liberality in the founders, and has produced to the State the greateft benefits, in the characters of thofe who have rifen to eminence from thefe beginnings. Who, that is a worthy member of either of our noble Univer fities will fail to greet her with a "Salve magna parens!" or to acknowledge that the great felicities of his life were derived from her tuition?

* We believe that both Wood and Chalmers are in an error, in allowing any benefactors to fhare the credit of Walter de Merton. All the great endowments came from him. Among others he poffeffed and gave the great living of Sedgefield, in Durham. A modern benefactor, named Simpson, who left near 7000l, is not mentioned.

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BRIT, CRIT, VOL. XXXVII. FEB. 1811,

Mr.

Mr. Chalmers enumerates the Colleges and Halls of Oxford, in the fame order as Anthony Wood; that is, in the chronological order of their respective foundations; in confequence of which they ftand thus: 1. Merton.

2. Univerfity. 3. Balliol. 4. Exeter. 5. Oriel. 6. Queen's." 7. New College. 8. Lincoln. 9. All Souls. 10. Magdalen. 11. Brafen Nofe.

Here ends the first volume, the pages being ftill continued through the fecond; from which it is natural to fuppofe that the orignal defign extended only to one volume. The fecond proceeds thus:

12. Corpus Chrifti. 13. Chrift Church. 14. Trinity. 15. St. John's. 16. Jefus. 17. Wadham. 18. Pembroke." 19. Worcester. 20. Hertford.-Halls. 1. Alban. 2. Edmund. 3. St. Mary. 4. New Inn. 5. Magdalen.

When we faid that Mr. Chalmers proceeds much upon the foundation of A. Wood, we by no means intended to' imply, that he has neglected other fources of information. On the contrary, when we turn to the account of any college, we find him intimately informed of its peculiar hiftorians. Thus in treating of Merton, he refers to the fcarce, and indeed, unpublifhed works of the Rev. Jof. Kilner *. Under University College we find him quoting Dr. Wm. Smith. Under New College, Milner, Lowth, and the Wartons. In a word, his refearches appear to have been at once extensive and judicious. From his account of William of Wykeham we regret that we can only give a few felections. It begins with thefe judicious remarks.

"Although fome of the Colleges already noticed were built in the reign of Edward III. they do not appear, if we may judge from the most ancient drawings, to have partaken much of that noble fpecies of architecture which was brought to perfection in that reign. We are now, however, approaching the era of the pure Gothic, which was introduced at Oxford by the kill and liberality of one man, whofe fhare in the annals of England would have been unufually great, had our hiftorians devoted their at tention to the arts of peace. When indeed we contemplate the architectural triumphs of Edward's reign, as they yet appear at Windfor, St Stephen's Chapel, Winchefter, and New College, (were there no other remains vifible,) we know not how to term the fourteenth century a dark age, or how to reconcile that confummate tafte in art and decoration, which, notwithstanding our improvements and skill, we now find to be inimitable, with

"An Account of Pythagoras's School in Cambridge," and "Something fupplementary."

thoft

thofe anomalies in the moral, religious, and political fyftems, which difgrace the hiftory of the fame fplendid period. A fplendid period it furely was, which could boast of the valour of the Black Prince, the poetry of Chaucer and Gower, the patronage of Edward III. and the architecture of Rede, Rodburne, and Wykeham.

"The Founder of New College must be allowed the pre-emi nence among the moft illuftrious names of Engih antiquity, whether we regard the munificent spirit which prompted, or the original talents which executed, his majeftic defigns: and thofe who feel that veneration and gratitude are duties, will readily acknowledge how much we owe to the learned biographer by whofe refearches the character of Wykeham has been fo ably illuftrated. Nor will the following sketch be without its ufes, if it excite a higher degree of curiofity, and prompt the reader to confult more ample fources of information refpecting a benefactor, in whofe hiftory nothing can be deemed uninterefting.

"William Wykeham, or of Wykeham, was born at Wykeham in Hampfire, in the year 1324. Whether Wykeham was his family name feems doubtful. He mentions his father and mother only by their Chriftian names, John and Sybill, or Sybilla. Some of his biographers are inclined to think that his father's name was Long, and others Perrot, but there is no direct evidence for either; and we know by many other inftances that nothing wast more uncertain at the period of his birth than the ftate of family

names.

"His parents were of good reputation and character, but in mean circumftances when he was born; yet from the number of his contemporary relations, whofe names and fituations are upon record, it is probable that the family was not of mean extraction. Of their poverty there is lefs reafon to doubt the report, as they could not afford to give their fon a liberal education. He foon, however, found a patron, fappofed to be Nicholas Uvedale, Lord of the Manor of Wykeham, and Governor of Winchester Cattle ; who must have discovered fome talents worth improving, fince he maintained him at Winchester school, where he was inftructed in grammatical learning, and where he gave early proofs of piety and ligence, employing his leifure hours in acquiring a knowledge of arithmetic, mathematics, logic, divinity, and the canon and civil law. He was afterwards employed by his patron in quality of fecretary, and either by him, or by Edyngdon, Bishop of Winchester, or by both, was recommended to the notice of Edward III.

"This circumftance, however honourable to his talents, appears to have limited the progrefs of what was then deemed, education, and difpofed him to a life of bufinefs rather than of study, but can never be advanced to justify the opinion, that he was deficient in eful learning. He certainly did not study at Oxford, and efcaped the contefts prevailing between the difciples of Occham

K 2

and

and of Duns Scotus, which feem to have formed the only learning then in vogue: but that one who dignified every office, civil and ecclefiaftical, with the wifdom, talents, and popularity of Wyke. ham, fhould have been illiterate, is an abfurdity too grofs to require refutation, and would have paffed unnoticed, had it not been, as far as his architectural abilities are concerned, in fome measure countenanced by the Wartons." P. 107.

After relating the most remarkable previous incidents of his life, the hiftorian thus proceeds:

"The foundation of a College, or of fome inftitution for the. education of youth, had probably been revolved for a confiderable time. About two years after he entered on the Bishopric of Winchester, he began to make purchases in the city of Oxford with that view, and he connected with it the plan of a College at Winchefter, which fhould be a nursery for that of Oxford. As early as the year 1373 he established a school at Winchester, in which he placed certain poor scholars, who were to be instructed in grammatical learning, by one Richard de Herton, with an affitant. But the progrefs of this generous plan was for fome time impeded by the intrigues of a party, headed by the Duke of Lancaster, in the last year of the reign of Wykeham's friend and mafter, Edward III. An accufation, branching into eight ar ticles, was brought against him; but upon a fair trial feven were found to be deftitute of proof, and the eighth only was laid hold of as a pretext for feizing into the King's hands the tempo-. ralities of the Bishopric of Winchester, excluding the Bishop from Parliament, and removing him from Court. A meafure fo violent, and juftified upon fuch flight grounds, was not to be overlooked. even in those days of popular acquicfcence. At the enfuing Convocation, the Bishop of London, William Courtney, had the fpirit to oppofe any fubfidy to the King until fatisfaction fhould be made for the injury done to the whole body of the Clergy, in the perfon of the Bishop of Winchefter; and he was fo firmly fupported by the Convocation, that the Archbishop of Canterbury, though a warm partizan of the Duke of Lancaster, was obliged to admit Wykeham into their affembly, where he was received by every member with all poffible marks of refpect. Nor wa he lefs a favourite with the people, who, when they rofe in the affair of Wickliffe, demanded that the Duke of Lancaster fhould allow the Bishop to be brought to a fair trial," P. 114.

If we confider the importance of the undertaking begun at Oxford, and connected with a fimilar plan at Winchefter, it will not appear furprising that he should, during the greater part of the reign of Richard II. have been difpofed to bestow his whole. attention on objects fo dear to his heart. What he projected was. certainly fufficient for the attention of any one man, and enough to immortalize the greatest. The defign, Bishop Lowth has eloquently expreffed, was noble, uniform, and complete.

"It

was

was no less than to provide for the perpetual maintenance and inftruction of two hundred fcholars, to afford them a liberal support, and to lead them through a perfect courfe of education, from the first elements of letters, through the whole circle of the sciences; from the lowest clafs of grammatical learning, to the highest degrees in the feveral faculties.'

"A defign fo enlarged, fo comprehenfive, fo munificent, had not yet been conceived by the moft illuftrious of our English founders. In bringing it to perfection, we have not only to admire the generosity which fupplied the means, (for opulence may fometimes be liberal at a fmall expence,) but that grafp of mind which at once planned and executed all that can be conceived moft difficult in fuch a vaft undertaking, and which enabled him to fhine with equal luftre as benefactor, legiflator, and architect, and give a leffon and example which could never be exceeded by the wifeft of his pofterity.

"It has already been mentioned, that in the year 1373 he bad begun his preparatory fchool at Winchester, and about the fame time, having purchafed tenements for the purpose, he establifhed a fimilar inftitution at Oxford, appointing a Governor, and acting in other refpects towards his infant fociety in fuch a manner, that its conftitution might be matured by the teft of experience, and that the life and foul, as it were, might be ready to inform and animate the body of his College, as foon as it could be finished.'

"Within lefs than three years from this commencement of his plan, the Society confifted of a Warden and feventy Fellows, who were called, Pauperes Scholares Venerabilis Domini Domini Wilhelmi de Wykeham, Wynton. Epifcopi. The Warden had a falary of 201. a year, and the Fellows were lodged in the places hired for them, and then known by the names of Blake Hall, Hart Hall, Schilde Hall, Mayden Hall, and Hammer Hall, The annual expence amounted to 10l. 13s. 4d. and each was allowed is. 6d. a week for commons.

which

"In 1379, having completed the feveral purchases of land. neceffary for the fite of the College, he obtained the King's patent, or licence, to found, dated June 30 of that year; and likewife the Pope's bull to the fame effect. In his Charter of Foundation, which he published on November 25 following, his College is entitled, Seinte Marie College of Wincheftre in Oxenford. But it is rather remarkable that the name of New College, was then given in common fpeech without much impropriety, fhould be by fome means continued until the prefent day, when it is in reality the oldeft as to its principal buildings, and the feventh in the order of foundation. The foundation-stone was laid March 5, 1380, and the whole completed in fix years; and on April 14, 1386, the Society took poffeffion by a public en trance, accompanied with much folemnity." P. 117.