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marks, in the King's Books. The Year Book, 38 E. III. 3, 8, 9. Bro. quare impedit 65. But as I take it at this day, the use is for the Chancellor to present to Livings under the yearly value of 20%."Watson, 4th edit. chap. 9. p. 75. See also Rolls of Parl. 1 Hen. VI. 24. vol. IV. P. 174.

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"Yet the King may present to any of his undervalued Livings, if he please." Watson, chap. 9. p. 75.

So the Lord Chancellor's right to present is only a matter of favour, say the Lawyers, and not enforceable by common law.

"The Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, for the time being, bath right to present to benefices appertaining to the King under a certain yearly value, in the King's Books. This privilege extended only to benefices of 20 marks, or under; but was enlarged probably about the time of the new valuation in the reign of Hen. VIII. to all benefices of 201. or under." Gibson, 803, 4.

"But whereas it hath been said (Watson, chap. 9. p. 75) that the King, if he please, may present to such Livings under the value of 201. &c." Gibson, 804.

This last sentence is quoted to show that Livings under the value of 201 are meant all along by Gibson, agreeably to the old rule, viz. "under a certain yearly value;" and not, as seems carelessly expressed by him in, declaring the new rule,-" Livings of 201. or under."

And Benefices appertaining to the King" cannot mean those benefices which were to become void by the neglect of others, or by promotion of the persons possessed of them at the time of such promotion; for such benefices did not appertain to the King at the time of granting this favour of presentation to the Lord Chancellor.

All that is here quoted from Gib. son is repeated by Burn, 4th edit. 1 vol. p. 126, 7, 8, 9, and 30.

"The Lord Chancellor became patron of all the King's Livings under the value of 201. per annum in the King's Books." Blackstone, 1st edit. vol. III. p. 47.

In the 11th edit. vol.III. p. 48, this right is more fully declared, as follows: "The Lord Chancellor became patron of all the King's Livings under the value of 20 marks per annum, in the King's Books." And in a note upon the word marks, is subjoined,

38 E. 111. 3. F. n. B. 35. though,

Hobart (214) extends this value to 20 pounds" [still under].

Blackstone is supported by the following authorities; viz. 2 Roll Abridg. 354; 3d Inst. 156; Co. Lit. 186; 2d Nelson Abridg. 1288 and 90; Lit. 351.

This appears to be the Law; the practice has been as follows: Now in order to discover what this was, in filling vacancies made by lapse or promotion of Livings rated under 201. sion, rated exactly at 201. I made a and of those made by death or ces

search in the Church Book in the Secretary of State's Office, from the Revolution downwards; and the following presentations are there found; viz.:

1689. St. Michael's R. in Gloucester, void by lapse, rated under 201. Patron the King.

1712. Charles Church V.

in Plymouth,void by lapse, rated under 201. Patrons, the Corporation. 1757. St. Bennet's R. united with St. Peter's R. Paul's Wharf, London, void by promotion of the incumbent, both rated under 201. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter.

1787. St. Austin's R. united with St. Faith's R. London, void by promotion of the incumbent; one rated under 201.; the other above. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter.

In the first of these cases, the Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, the usual patron, according to the rule, lost his right of presentation, because of the lapse.

In the second case, though the Living is rated under 201. it was not considered as having “appertained to the King," and as devolving, on that. account, to the Lord Chancellor to present.

In the two last cases it may be said, that the rated sums of the united Churches, taken together, amount to more than 201.; but, it may be answered, that the Lord Chancellor now actually presents to ten united Churches in the City of London, the rated sums of both which Churches, taken together, amount to more than 201.

The

So this principle ought to ap ply in all such cases, or in none. presumption is, that the cause of the vacancy makes the rule, uamely, promotion.

On

1820.] On Presentation to Benefits by the Lord Chancellor, &c. 37

On the other hand it must be noted, that there is a presentation in the Church Book before-mentioned, to the Rectory of Hadstock in Essex, void by promotion of the incumbeat; and on the margin of the warrant of presentation are these words: “This warrant not executed, being in the gift of my Lord Chancellor." The Living is rated at 197.; patron, the Bishop.

This exception to the general rule may have arisen, from the forbearance of the rightful patron; as, probably, has arisen the exception of the vicarage of Buckland Brewer, in Devonshire, to which there are several presentations by the Minister, in the same book, though it is rated under 201.

And the Deanery of St. Burien, in Cornwall, which is rated under 201. is uniformly presented to by the Minister; though the deanery of Middleham in Yorkshire, also rated under 201. is presented by the Lord Chancellor.

Of Livings rated exactly at 201. there are but five, in the King's gift, and these are,

Boxford Rectory, in Suffolk. Ottery Vicarage, iu Devonshire. St. Mary's Vicarage, in Warwick. Shrivenham Vicarage, in Berkshire. West Tilbury Rectory, in Essex. The Vicarage of St. Mary's in Warwick seems to have been always presented to by the Minister; for six presentations to it are found in the Church Book, in the years 1705-6, 1724, 1739, 1750, 1767, and 1778, void each time by death or cession.

And a presentation to the Rectory of Boxford, in the year 1735, which became void by death, is also found in the same book.

Two other instances are found in this Church Book, of presentations, by the Minister, to Livings rated exactly at 201. viz.:

Of the Rectory of St. Mary's, Berkhampstead, in the year 1693, void by death. Patron, the Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall.

And of the Rectory of Averham, in Nottinghamshire, in the year 1792, void by the promotion of Dr. Sutton to Norwich. Patron, G. Sutton, esq. Upon a consideration of the whole, it seems clear, that the rule at present is, that the Lord Chancellor hath a right, and that by favour only, not

enforceable by common law, to present to all the King's Livings which are rated under 20l. a year in the King's Books; but that this rule does not apply to vacancies made by lapse, or promotion; and that he hath no right whatever, in any case of vacancy, to present to Livings which are rated exactly at 201. per annum in the King's Books.

To the foregoing may be added, that in the year 1793, the Bishop of Rochester died ; and the Living of Suodland, in his diocese and patronage, and rated exactly at 201. being vacant, lapsed. A warrant of presentation, as having lapsed to the Crown, was ordered and made out, in the Church Book; but was not carried through, being claimed by the Lord Chancellor, and given up by the Minister. In the mean time, the new Bishop stepped in, and claimed the presentation. The matter was settled by a presentation of the Bishop's to a friend of the Minister.

In the year 1795, the Living of West Tilbury in Essex became vacant by death; the Lord Chancellor claimed to present, and did present. The Living of West Tilbury is rated exactly at 201.; patron, the King.-It may be added, that in the first of the last two cases, the person presented by the Minister declined, as I was informed, the trouble and expence, of maintaining his presentation, which the Minister would have supported. In the last case, I myself offered the Minister to be at the trouble and expence of maintaining his presentation, if he could present me; but this be declined, out of accommodation, perhaps, to the Lord Chancellor.

METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE.

THE progress of metropolitan Ar

must be from

the great Fire of London. It was a little previous to that awful event that Inigo Jones gave the first adumbrations of elegant improvement; especially in his design for Whitehall Palace, which, had it been completed, would have left us nothing to envy at the Louvre, or the Thuilleries. On the rebuilding of London, Sir Christopher Wren was the Crown Architect, and the vast extent of his professional talents is sufficiently displayed in the multitude of his public works; in Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals,

Hospitals, Bow Church, St. Stephen's Wallbrook, and most of the restored or rebuilt parish churches, in the Royal Exchange, but above all, in St. Paul's Cathedral, a work which, though inferior in magnitude and grandeur to St. Peter's at Rome, and also in classic taste, to the more ancient models, is yet, altogether, the strongest evidence of merit, considering it as the production of a single artist. Wren was probably the best mathematician and geometrician who ever practised as an Architect. But his ornaments were heavy, profuse, and often in bad taste. In fact, he had far too much on his hands to enable him to do all well. It was natural for him, in the then change of taste, to dislike the Gothic, and to show, as he has done at Westminster Abbey, very indifferent talents in repairing of imitating it. Sir John Vanbrugh followed (an author and a wit); but who endeavoured to combine with a massive and rather fantastic style a pictorial or scenic effect. His best success in this way is at Blenheim, which, with all its faults, is yet a rich picturesque cluster, the merits of which were first brought to notice by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his Lectures. Kent, afterwards, was much employed; and in London, at the King's Mews, the Horse Guards, and other places. Ripley has left a disgusting memento of his style in the Admiralty. Talman was the dull designer of Chatsworth. The elder Dance dignified his exertions by the clumsy construction of the Mansion House. Lord Burlington, about this period, shone beyond professional men, in reviving the taste of Palladio, at Burlington House, Chiswick, and St. Paul's, Covent Garden: but the taste of the noble Artist did not prevail. To James Gibbs (a Scotsman) we are indebted for the quadrangle of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, the New Church in the Strand, and St. Martin's in the Fields, which boasts the finest Corinthian portico in London. Sir Robert Taylor then came into practice. He designed the two high houses on the South side of Lincoln's-inn-fields, and many other ungraceful piles: his best effort was the interior of the old offices in the Bank, which possess great architectural merit, unequalled by the modern enlargements and alterations. After the

commencement of the late reign, the chief competitors for patronage and fame were Sir William Chambers and Robert Adam; each of whom aimed at classical examples, though, their styles were extremely different. Sir W. Chambers was patronized by the King. He built Melbourne House (now the Albany), the Exeise Office, &c. But his chief work was Somerset House, which yet, under a lavish public expenditure, remains, disgracefully, unfinished. Chambers did not copy from the Greek; but from the Roman and Italian. His principles

are contained in his Treatise on Civil Architecture. Somerset House is a grand design; its terrace is the most noble modern one in Europe, and it comprises many beautiful specimens of the art taken separately. But, for the sake, perhaps, of the façade of the terrace, the finest effect has been neglected.

One passes along the Strand, without stopping to look at this costly structure; whereas, had there been a central opening between the buildings, admitting a view across the Thames, it would have commanded the admiration of all who passed it. It is strange that Chambers should have missed this advantage. It is a main source of the open splendour of Greenwich Hospital. It was the free censure of this exclusion of picturesque scenery, by the celebrated Barry, in his Lectures, that occasioned those unpleasant circumstances in the Royal Academy, which compelled the late King to interpose. Chambers studied Vitruvius, Buonarotti, Bramante, and Palladio.

Robert Adam, a Scotsman, of fertile genius, invigorated his mind by inspecting the Roman remains, and drew a beautiful restoration of the baths of Dioclesian. In fancy he was superior to any modern architect: but in his passion for beautiful outlines, and profuse embellishments, he often lost sight of simple grandeur. He hated every thing that is heavy. To him, however, infinitely more is owing than is generally known. He destroyed the fashion of clumsiness. He introduced that pleasing lightness of style, and those delightful varieties of decoration (particularly in the interior), which, with improvements by chastening hands, still maintain their sway. There was nothing connected with the more elegant abudes of man, however

however apparently insignificant, that the pencil of this man of genius did not design. Yet he was equal to the highest scientific attempts. His works are numerous. In London, the Adelphi is the chief public one. In his native capital (Edinburgh), the Register Office, the College, and much of the New Town attest his merits. Glasgow too affords fine specimens of his talents. His folios of engraved, designs display him to the highest advantage.

Since those great artists, we have had Milne (another Scotsman), who merits praise for Blackfriars Bridge; and the late Wyatt, who resembled Adam much, except in his profuse enrichments. Wyatt was peculiarly favoured—none so highly since Wren. The country is full of his designs. He flourished eminently in the manner of the modern Greciau, and evinced his fine taste in the Pantheon, which fire unhappily constimed to ashes. Latterly he fell into the revived fashion of the Gothic; and nothing was done at Oxford, Cambridge, or Windsor, without him. So it was in the provincial Cathedrals, and in the numerous mansions of the nobility, wherein he has endeavoured to connect ancient grandeur with modern accommodation.

The progress that Architecture has been making recently is no doubt favourable. The disposition to study the antient schools, and the increased knowledge of the principles of the Greeks, have produced great benefits. Our present principal Artists are, Smirke, Jeffery Wyatt, Nash, and Soane. Smirke is entirely attic, even almost to excess. His imitations are correct at Covent-garden Theatre; but good taste forsook him, when he gave to the front of a modern play house the solemn grandeur of the portico of the Parthenon. His “United Service Club House,” in the Regent's-street, is too chaste for the uses of the building, and does not associate with the adjacent architecture. His is still the purest style of the day. Jeffery Wyatt is in a richer taste, in the interior of Drury-lane : we understand he is to adorn Chatsworth, and to erect the palace of the Duke of Wellington. Nash, who has built several villas, and manages the Regent's-street, &c. is not so much a designer as a selector of designs, and

he takes them from all schools, more for their variety than for their beauty. On the new Chapel erecting above Waterloo-place he is placing a turret, evidently copied from the choragic monument of Lysicrates, commonly called the lantern of Demosthenes; not over a Greek, but over a Roman Doric portico, copied from Chambers's book; and he is adorning a Christian Chapel with the ox skulls, which most probably referred to the sacrifices of the heathen temples. He has no settled principles of taste. Soane is the great Professor at the Academy, and descants on the proprieties of his art. But it would be difficult to show on what antient authority he loads his edifices with heavy scrolls, and bundles of escalop shells and honeysuckles, in the manner he has adopted at the Bank.

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We know of no mode so likely to be advantageous in the improvement of this art as the promotion of emulation by competition. Nothing else will so greatly encourage merit; and this will lead the designers to send their productions to the annual exhibition at Somerset House.

TH

HARROW SCHOOL SPEECHES.

HE annual Exhibition of juvenile proficiency in Classical Learning, for which Harrow School has long been noted, took place on July 6, before a most numerous and splendid assemblage of rank and fashion. About one, the Great Room was opened for the visitants. The majority of the company consisted of elegant females; and the whole amounted neatly to 600. Among these were, Earl of Harrowby, Earl of Aberdeen, Earl and Countess of Euniskillen, Earl of Clarendon, Lord Northwick, Lord Palmerston, Sir W. Grant, Sir J. Yorke, Sir T. Acland, Hon. R. Gordon, Sir H. and Lady Carr, Lady Dallas, Lady Copley, Rev. Dr. Parr, Dr. Valpy, Dr. Beecher, &c.

a

Two species of novelties on this occasion, contributed to attract company so uncommonly numerous. The first was, the opening of a magnificent new School-room. The next was the establishment of three prizes, two Poems in Latin, and one in Greek. This admirable plan has originated with the Rev. Dr. Butler, the Head Master; and the Prizes are a dona

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tion from himself. The following were the subjects:

1. Amplicata loci species, popu-
lique voluptas.-A USONIUS.
2. Non erimus Regno indecores,
nec nostra feretur

Fama levis, tantique abolescet gratia fucti.-VIRGIL.

3. The motto of the Greek Ode was taken from Pindar.

There were several Candidates for the Prizes, who sent their compositions, accompanied by their names, in a sealed letter, to the Head Master, and he opened none of the letters, except those of the Scholars who were deemed worthy of the prizes. The names of these were, Bollaerts, Williams, and Smith; and they each recited their own compositions in a very superior style. The first displayed a great extent of subject, with much classical allusion, and evinced considerable reading and scholarship. The second Poem was spoken by Mr. Williams, in all the gracefulness of elocution; it abounded with pleasantry, and contained some neat allusions to Dr. Parr, Sir W. Jones, Lord Byron, and the Head Master, who were formerly among the alumni of this Establishment. The Greek Ode was in imitation of Sappho, in the pure Eolic dialect*. The Prize for each was a book of the value of five guineas, which was presented, in the presence of the whole company, by Dr. Butler.

The other Speeches, being selections, were as follow:

RAY-M.Min. Ruffus ad Milites.—

LIVIUS.

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WILLIAMS MAXS.-
the Giaour.-Lord BYRON.

Woop-In Clodium.-CICERO.
BOLLAERTS-Contra Phillippum.

DEMOSTHENES.

ARMSTRONG- Caractacus.

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PARRY Senatum.-LIVIUS. TOLLER, sen.-A. Pontius Feciali respondens.-LIVIUS.

Sp. Posthumius Cos. ad

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PERCEVAL, sen. - Richard II. to Earl of Northumberland. -SHAKS

PEARE.

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CAUSTON--Wolsey.-SHAKSPEARE. Perceval, sen. the youngest son but one of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, spoke the passage from Shakspeare so feelingly, as to draw down applauses, mixed with some tears.

Causlon, the Captain of the School, was admirable; Williams was highly impressive in reciting the passage from Lord Byron's Poem. Seymour was uncominonly happy in the serio-comic anticipation which Swift gave of his own death. The passage from Terence was given by North with much comic effect of the graver kind, which was well contrasted with the broad humour of the preceding; and Byde displayed considerable powers in the fine passage from Massinger.

Upwards of 100 Ladies and Gentlemen partook of an excellent dinner at the house of Dr. Butler; and the other Masters had large parties.

The beautiful domain of Lord Northwick was thrown open; and its romantic walks were visited by numerous groupes until a late hour.

To the above communication we can add, to the Head Master's honour, that he subscribed 5007. to the School Room, and has expended 10,000l. on his own residence as Master of the School.

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for a History of the Town and County of Cambridge, which I intend at a future period to offer to the publick, I shall esteem it a favour if you, or any of your Readers, will inform me who is in possession of the folio Books of Records relating to the town, transcribed by Samuel Spalding, Mayor in 1630, and mentioned by Blomefield as being in his hands* when he wrote his "Collectanea." If any of friends feel disposed your to assist me in my undertaking, I will accept their kindness with sincere gratitude; and will take particular care of any books or MSS. with which they may be pleased to intrust me. Yours, &c. M.D.DUFFIELD.

*See Biomefield's Collectanea Cantabrigiensia, p. 226, note .

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