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belonging to the venerable Sir Joseph Banks, bart.

Bollington. About a mile South of Wragby, now an hamlet to Goltho. The Abbey stood on a rising ground, close by a wood: a ruin remains, in a plain stone wall about 14 feet high,' and 20 long. The space of ground is moated round, containing about six acres. A mean-built farm-house, and the stone wall above-mentioned, are the only appearance of buildings on the spot. On the East side is a circular moat, inclosing a small space of ground, with a pond in the middle, the use of which is difficult to guess. The Abbey ground belongs to a gentleman of the name of Hackett, lately purchased of. Chapman, esq.

Near Spilsby.

Hugworthington. The religious house here stood on a sunny hill side, South of the village, on land now the property of Lord Newark. A plain stone-built end wall, with two fire-places, one over the other, is all that remains of the building worthy of notice.

Haugh. Near Alford, on heathy wolds, now an extra-parochial place. The lower part of the present farm or manor-house is of brick, and very antient in appearance. It stands on high dry ground; and is probably part of the religious house called Haugh. The Church, a small edifice, contains several monuments and memorials of the Boll family. The estate belongs to some ladies of the name of Horsfield. An avenue of 70 antient yew-trees is near the house.

Torksey. This religious house was situate on the East part of the Village, in a place now called the Abbey-yard. There is no building upon it, but a new-erected brick and tiled barn; even the foundations have been so leveled down, that scarce any vestige remains. The estate belongs to Sir Abraham Hume, bart.

Tattersall College. Situate on the East side the Market-place, on the back of a new-erected dwelling-house, inhabited by Mr. Footit. What remains of the College is a large brick and tiled building, now made use of as a malting. The walls are very thick, the door-cases and windows are of stone, some arched, and others with mullions, very antient. The building, and site thereof, belongs to Earl Fortescue. Some people,

however, suppose the College stood near the East end of the Church, where there are certainly many foundations, and a remarkable remnant of a brick building with an arched roof, like a bath.

Croyland. The venerable ruin of Croyland is in the same precise state it was 20 years ago; when Mr. Gough, with his friend Mr. Nichols, visited and described the remains. The North aile of the Abbey Church is now the Parish Church. The Abbey and offices were situated on the South side this building, on land belonging to Mr. Whitsid, and now grow ing hemp, Sept. 14, 1810.

Mr. URBAN,

C.

Whitkirk, near Leeds,
Sept. 1, 1810.

Hook into the antient registers of this parish, I was induced to examine the whole series from the year 1603, when they commence, as well as the Churchwardens' accounts, which are preserved as far back as the year 1653, and other parish records, entered in the same book with those accounts. In the course of this research I was led to make some extracts, which may not be altogether unacceptable, or at least may tend to excite farther examinations of such old records as may be yet in existence, and thereby furnish similar or more curious information. The accounts of the Overseers of the Poor for the Township of Temple-Newsam, lying chiefly in this parish, are also preserved from the year 1663, and those of the Constables for the same Township from the year 1670; but I met with nothing sufficiently striking in either of them, on a cursory survey, to draw my attention.

AVING lately had occasion to

The following is the list of the Vicars of this Parish as far as I have been able to make them out from the notices that occur in these records.

Richard Tharold, M. A. first occurs: buried 10th Dec. 1618.

Nathaniel Taylor, B. D. succeeded, inducted 8th May, 1619.

He occurs in 1623, but I do not. find the register of his burial.

Christopher Rudston, M. A. buried 13th July, 1635.

Charles Procter, M. A. succeeded, inducted 30th Nov. 1635; ejected or resigned in 1661. Richard

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Samuel Smalpage, M. A. succeeded, inducted 31st Dec. 1785; the present incumbent.

Of most of these, little more is noted in the records to which I refer, than what is here put down; but of one of them, who occurs in the most eventful period, Mr. Charles Procter, more is recorded. The first thing that attracted my particular notice with respect to him was, his witnessing his successor's reading himself in, as appears from the following:

"Memorandum, That the nine-andthirty Articles of Religion were publickely and distinctly read, in the parish church of Whitkirke in the county of Yorke, by Richard Wright, vicar of the said Church, upon the twenty-third day of June, in the thirteenth yeare of the raigne of our Soveraigne Lord, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. Anno Domini 1661. In testimony hereof, wee hereunto set our hands.

CHARLES PROCTER.

WILL. DIXON. [Parish Clerk.]" Under the idea of his being one of the Ejected Ministers, I could not but feel strongly interested for Mr. Procter on this occasion; particularly when I found he was a married man, and burthened with a large family. Seven children I find registered to Charles Procter, vicar, between the years 1648 and 1658, both inclusive; and I also find myself under the necessity of fathering four other children upon him, registered to Charles Prockter, with a trifling variation of the spelling, and without the addition of vicar, between the years 1639 and 1645 inclusive; as there is no direct evidence to the contrary, the date of his marriage

not appearing in this register, as these entries occur during his incumbency, and in connexion with the others; and as the name never occurs in the registers, at least within any reasonable time, before or after his incumbency. And as I find only one, the youngest, of these children entered in the registry of Burials, 1 conclude that he went away with a wife and ten children living. It was only the preceding Summer that he had been at the expence of fitting up the Vicar's Pew in the Church, which does not seem as if he was then contemplating his removal. I annex the memorial of this transaction; several others of the like nature occurring in these records, by which the present title to many of the pews may be ascertained and established.

"Memorandum, That itt is agreed the 10th day of July, 1660, by the Vicar and Churchwardens, whose names are underwritten, that that Stall or Pue in the Quire of the Parish Church of Whitkirke, being the next to Mr. Nelthorpe's pue, which Mr. Procter built att his owne charge, and wherein Mrs. Procter bath always sit, shall belong to the present and succeeding Ministers' wives, reserving only a seate in the said stall or pue for Katherin Dixon, the present Clarke's Wife, so long as shee shall live; the present and succeeding vicars keeping the same in sufficient repaire, and in such decent manner as becomes the house of God. CHARLES PROCTER, RIC. BOOTHE, JOHN EAMONSON."

I have before hinted that the first impression upon my mind was, that Mr. Procter was one of the Ejected Ministers; on which account, under the circumstances which I have mentioned, he would be entitled to serious commiseration; particularly if his removal were occasioned by scruples of conscience, in declining the subscription to the Articles. Upon a closer comparison of dates, however, I am willing to hope that he might be preferred to another bene~ fice, as the operation of the Parliamentary proceedings would of course have ceased long before the year following the Restoration of Charles II. and the date of his successor's reading himself in was about one year and two months prior to St. Bartholomew's day, when by the Act of Uniformity, 14 Charles II. about 2000 of

the

the Clergy, according to Hume, were deprived of their livings.

In the Churchwardens' Accounts I find the following entries:

"1653. Given to Mr. Procter towards the providing a dinner for the Ministers upon the Exercise day, 5s.

1654. Charges upon the Ministers on the Exercise day, 63.

1659. Charges att a meeting att Whitkirke of severall neighbours, in consulting about the returne of an answer to a warrant from the Sheriffe about Ejected Ministers, 4s. 6d.

Mr. Procter, and Francis Dawson's charges, in going to York about the same businesse, 5s. 2d.

Given to Mr. Procter by consent of the Parishioners, for going to Yorke, and his paines about the same, 5s."

From one article in these accounts

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I am able to trace Mr. Procter into Lincolnshire after his resignation or ejectment, viz.

"1662. Edward Butterfield's charges in going into Lincolnshire, to speake with Mr. Procter about Mr. Askwith's legacy, 6s."

Of the distresses of the Ejected Clergy at this period, some at least of the following entries are melancholy instances:

"1667. Given to a poore old Minister who preached here June 2nd, 3s. 6d.

Charges at severall times upon severall Ministers that preached here, 3s. 6d.

1668. Charges upon Mr. Bennington and some friends of his when hee preached here att Christmasse, 2s. 2d,

Bestowed in ale upon a poore preacher that preached here, 6d.

1669. Given to a poore Minister who preached here at the Church April 25, 5s. Bestowed on him in ale, 4d.

February 13, 1669. Collected then by the Churchwardens in the Church upon a testimoniall, and at the request of the Lord Bishop of Yorke, for one Mr. Wilmut, a poore Minister, the, summe of 8s. 4d.

May 16, 1675. Collected then in the Church, upon a Lettre of Request brought by Mr. Francis Fowler, of Bungay in the County of Suffolke, a poore distressed Minister, which was given to him May 17, 1675, 5s. 7d. ob."

But the most affecting instances are those which follow:

"April 10th, 1670. Given then by the neighbours to a poore mendicant Minister, one Mr. John Rhodes, who then preached here, and after sermon stood in the midle ile to receive the charity of the people, the summe of 12s. 3d.

July 3d, 1670. Given then by the neighbours to a poor lame itinerary, one Mr. Walker, who then preached here, and after the sermon stood in the midle ile to receive the people's charity, which was 9s. 3d.

November 20th, 1670. Given then in the midle ile of the church by the neighbours to a poore mendicant itinerary lame priest, one Mr. Walker, who had preached here the 3d of July 70, and preached again this day, the summe of 3s. 6d.

July 30th, 1671. Given. then in the midle ile of the church by the neighbours to the aforenamed Mr. Walker, the mendicant itinerary, lame minister, who had been here severall times before, and did then preach, the summe of 6s. 3d. Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

HE

S. S.

London, Dec. 13.

evil of the present depreciation of our Paper Money having attained a height at once alarming and disastrous, and being pregnant with imminent danger to the com monwealth, every character conver sant in matters of finance, and the po litical world in particular, are behoved, by the manifest existence of the fact, maturely to deliberate thereon, and to suggest any apparently efficient mode for the removal of this primary cause of general distress, this source of a series of national misfortunes, and principal measure, by which the Government may, in regard to the prosperity, strength, and true interests of the Country, be misled. Impressed with the great importance and magnitude of the subject, I shall venture (although in a great measure destitute of the qualities of a Financier or a tained facts, to offer some material Politician), after stating a few ascerobservations; and hope, that should any thing of an incongruous or indigested nature appear in my view of the case, I may have the advantage of the concise and limited manner in which your Publication obliges me to treat it. My design is simply to call the attention of your readers to the subject; and, in doing that, my end is answered.

It has, Sir, recently been demonstrated by a gentleman intimately acquainted, as well with financial concerns, as with all the arcana of office, and official circumstances, that "the difference between £46. 148. 6d. and 56. (that is to say, the difference

between

between the legal value of a pound, or 12 ozs. of gold, and its present value in Paper Currency), is the measure of the depreciation of Paper;" and observes, that it is the measure of that depreciation, as well with respect to gold, the universal equivalent, as to every other commodity." Assuming, therefore, this demonstration as the criterion, the present depreciation is about £19. 17s. or near £20 per cent. (I say the present, because by the natural operation of the existing order of things, it must increase, and will continue to do so until the cause is completely eradicated), a circumstance which has thrown a new light on all revenue, commercial, and manufacturing concerns; and, by an application of the rules and degrees of proportion, we are furnished with the true key of prosperity. It is conclusive that the fluctuations of the circulating medium must, relevantly and immediately, govern the foreign exchange, the mercantile negotiations, and the prices of most commodities; and, generally, it has a more or less influence on every act or thing in any wise connected with the welfare of the Country. A depreciation is an evil the more to be dreaded, as it creeps upon us in a gradual and imperceptible manner; and although it is known to act, and to act magisterially and with decision, yet it is comparatively but little heeded, and, until the late report of the Bullion Committee, passed almost unregarded.

2

We have been told that the export trade rapidly increases; that in the last year the amount of the woollen manufactures exported was £5,416,151, exceeding by £562,152 that of the preceding year! If this immense exportation is attributable (for so the Report infe s) to the manufactures exported, without any reference to the Paper medium, we must doubtless conclude that the country is in a most flourishing condition; but, after the very able exposition given us by the gentleman alluded to, it is utterly impossible to entertain any such idea. Supposing, however, for a moment that the high amount of the returns were not to be attributed to the fluctuations of the Paper Currency: to what then can we attribute it? The fact of the very limited extent of the demands would of itself afford ample

conviction that we cannot look to our manufactures as the real cause of the increase. Let us but cast our eyes around, let us view all the minutiæ of the commercial system, and we shall be satisfied that no perceptible extraordinary demand was made, nor no new inducement for smuggling or contraband of war was created; our commercial relations were much on the same footing, and were con ducted on the same principles! There could not therefore be any alteration in these respects. I am ready to admit that the industry and labour of our manufacturers are truly great, and that the enterprising genius of British merchants is ever watchful for expedients; yet physical impossibilities will of course have their own weight, and obvious truths will of course remove delusion. Can it be imagined that a far greater exportation of woollen manufactures took place in 1809 than in 1802, a year in which we were at peace, and trading with every trading nation in the globe? Can it be imagined that in consequence of our trading in 1809 with such a comparatively minute part of the globe, and consequently the demands bearing no proportion to what they were in 1802, that nevertheless our manufactures increased to an extent almost incredible? If we recollect that, with the exception of our colonies, Portugal, Sweden, Sicily, and a portion of Spain, we, at the period of the return referred to, held no intercourse but that of stealth, no trade but that of contraband, we shall be fully satisfied of the fallacy of attributing the increase of the return to the increase of the exportation. Weighing, therefore, these circumstances, with the demonstration of the £20. per cent. depreciation, likewise with the consequent high price of each article by which the manufactures are produced, and with the very high wages of artizans and workmen of all descriptions, we cannot be at a loss to devise the true origin of the augmented amount of our commercial returus. Perhaps if I were to speculate on the progressive annual advancements, and calculate the gradual depression of Paper Money, I might discover, that the declared annual increase is, in point of fact, an annual depreciation of the circulating medium, in a ratio of little more or

less

less than the annual advancement.

In 1807 some papers were laid before Parliament, which were afterwards printed, and in which it was stated, as the result of ascertained facts, that wages since 1780 had advanced £39. 7s. 1d, per cent,; and that the price of provisions had advanced, in the same time, £84. Ss. 2d, per cent. To what but the immense and incalculable amount of Paper circulating in the world can we ascribe these calamitous evils? What, but the unlimited discounts of the Bank, giving life and energy to a swarm of jobbers and speculators; their unrestrained issues, unregulated by an allusion to the Bullion and Coin, and proper securities, in their coffers; and the fictitious capital thus floating, and enhancing by its plenitude every commodity its eyes are cast on? If a period is not put to such prac tices, it is to be expected (although by the shutting of the Swedish ports the calls for our manufactures are still more limited than they were in 1809) that the returns for the current year will far exceed that of its predecessor! By the mode of the Bank discounts, a merchant, or body of merchants, disposed to speculate or engross an article likely to advance in price, may, by sending their own bills or paper (together with such as the credit of their name, or their influence, can obtain from their friends) at different but close periods, into the Bank, get the whole discounted (that is to say, get the currency of the realm in exchange for them); and, by applying the produce to the buying-up (to make use of a well-understood phrase) of that article, cause an inconceivable advancement in its price, and consequently a reduction in the value of Paper, and a long train of attending miseries and evils. This virtual encouragement of the most. base and infamous of practices, this boundless issue of the legal currency, do they not, by throwing an immensity of that currency into circulation, not only cause and accelerate its depreciation; but may it not ultimately endanger the very existence of the state? Do they not encourage and further the views of that swarm of locusts which prey on the very vitals of industry? Do they not enhance the prices of the necessaries of life, by holding out an inducement to

forestall and monopolize? It is somewhat consolatory to reflect, that those who are the primary cause of the depreciation, and reap a present gain, must in the end pay the deficiency; and perhaps, if it were not for the mischief it causes in leading the world, and the Government in particular, to believe that the export of our manu factures is annually increasing, and that to an amazing amount, when in reality it is nothing more than a fall in the value of money, and also the, advancement it creates in the prices of all articles whatsoever, it were better to leave this trading company; to the pursuit of their plans, and await the blow which may sunite them so severely as to level them with the dust.

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The cause and multiplicity of bank ruptcies is another point to which I beg to call your attention. In a general sense, they are a considerable benefit to the Country; a partial evil, but a general good: they are the proofs of the disappointment and con fusion of speculators; they are the failures of men, who, as far as in them lies, have aimed at some en. grossment, meditated some forestalment, or contemplated the disposal,; at an advanced price, of some necessary commodity; they are the resource of men, who, by a total disrc-. gard of repule, and an abuse of public confidence, have plunged into ha-, zard, and staked every thing their credit can by any possible means obtain, to accomplish their sole and selfish view of enriching themselves (although it must of necessity be accomplished at the expence of the interest of their Country, and of numberless individuals), and being disap pointed in such their landable endeayours, are reduced to the extremity of appealing to the bankrupt laws (laws which are wisely ordained for the protection of the honest trader, and for his amelioration when, by unforeseen misfortunes, he is involved in embarrassment and difficulty) for relief; and, forsooth, to become bankrupt, and be exempted from any penalty whatever! In justice to the community at large, and as a preventive against such malpractices, a distinction should be made in bankruptcy; those failures which have arisen from a fall in the articles in which the bankrupt dealt, from bad

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