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THE origin of this, "the noblest institution in the world," as the late estimable and distinguished Bishop of Calcutta, Conyers Middleton, designated the chief place of his own nurture and education, is of a more than commonly interesting character, not only from the associations connected with the early and lamented death of its founder, Edward VI., but from the circumstances which were the immediate cause of the foundation. "Mr. Doctor Ridley, then Bishop of London, came and preached before the King's Majesty at Westminster; in which sermon he made a fruitful and goodly exhortation to the rich to be merciful unto the poor; and also to move such as were in authority to travail by some charitable way and means to comfort and relieve them." The youthful King appears to have been so much impressed by the nature and extent of the evils pointed out, that he could not rest till some remedy were devised. So he "suddenly and of himself" sent for the famous Bishop immediately after the close of the service, when the following scene, so admirably and almost dramatically described by Stow," on the very report of the said Bishop Ridley," took place. "So soon as the King's Majesty was at leisure, he called for him, and caused him to come unto him in a great gallery at Westminster, where ... ... there were present no more persons than they two, and therefore made him sit down in one chair, and he himself in another, which, as it seemed, were before the coming of the Bishop there purposely set, and caused the Bishop, maugre his teeth, to be covered, and then entered communication with him in this manner :-First, giving him hearty thanks for his sermon and good exhortation, he therein rehearsed such special things as

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he had noted, and that so many, that the Bishop said, 'Truly, truly, (for that commonly was his oath,) I could never have thought that excellency to have been in his Grace, but that I beheld and heard it in him.' At last, his King's Majesty much commended him for his exhortation for the relief of the poor; but, my Lord,' quoth he, you willed such as are in authority to be careful thereof, and to devise some good order for their relief: wherein, I think, you mean me; for I am in highest place, and therefore am the first that must make answer unto God for my negligence, if I should not be careful therein; knowing it to be the express commandment of Almighty God to have compassion of his poor and needy members, for whom we must make an account unto him. And truly, my Lord, I am, before all things else, most willing to travail that way; and doubting nothing of your long and approved wisdom and learning, who have such good zeal, as wisheth help unto them; but also that you have had some conference with others, what ways are best to be taken therein, the which I am desirous to understand: I pray you therefore to say your mind.' The Bishop thinking least of that matter, and being amazed to hear the wisdom and earnest zeal of the King, was, as he said himself, so astonished, that he could not well tell what to say; but, after some pause, said, 'that he thought at this present, for some entrance to be had, it were good to practise with the City of London, because the number of poor there were very great, and the citizens also were many and wise; and he doubted not but they were also both pitiful and merciful.'" Edward accordingly gave the good Bishop a letter, there and then, signed by his own hand, and sealed with his own signet, desiring him to deliver it personally, and to let him know, so soon as he conveniently might, how he had proceeded therein. The Bishop was "so joyous of having the said letter," and so "marvellous zealous," that he had an interview that same evening with the Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Dobbs, who on its receipt exhibited a like pleasure and eagerness to carry into effect the King's wishes. The Bishop dined the next day with Sir Richard by appointment, when two aldermen and six others of the City were present, and the matter was earnestly talked over. The citizens did not shame the character Ridley had given them for wisdom and humanity. A very comprehensive and business-like plan was soon laid before the King. The poor were divided into three classes:-1. The poor by impotency, consisting principally of orphans, the aged, blind and lame, and lepers; 2. The poor by casualty, comprising "the wounded soldier, the decayed housekeeper," and diseased persons; 3. The thriftless poor, including "the rioter that consumeth all," "the vagabond that will abide in no place," and "the idle person, as strumpets and others." Such were the people for whom provision was now to be made. Bridewell was prepared for the last-mentioned class; the Hospitals of St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas for the second (the decayed housekeeper being relieved at home); whilst as to the first-the leper having been comfortably housed in proper places, so as to "keep him out of the city," and "from clapping of dishes and ringing of bells," (the mode in which these unhappy creatures were accustomed to call attention to their wants,) and the poor having been accommodated in an Almonry, belonging originally to the Priory of St. Mary Overies, there remained only the destitute children to provide for the largest, however, and in every way most important class. For these they set apart the most memorable of the old religious houses of London, the Grey Friars.

These religious mendicants appeared for the first time in England, we may say in Europe, at a critical period in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. The wealth, the "high-blown pride," the idleness and sensuality of the indolent, and the frequently mischievous activity of the energetic monks, had well nigh made their name a by-word of scorn among no inconsiderable portion of the people. Enthusiastic minds became deeply impressed with the evil, and pondered and wept over it in the depths of their solitude and desolation, till suddenly a mighty light, perhaps, seemed to burst upon their dazzled eyes, or thrilling and mysterious voices to whisper in their ears, calling them to the regeneration of the world. About the same time appeared in Spain and in Italy two of these men, who, renouncing not merely the spiritual haughtiness and personal luxuries of the monks, but even the commonest comforts of life, soon established the Orders known respectively as the Dominicans and Franciscans, or, from the colour of their habits, Black and Grey Friars. The first settled in England in 1221, building one house at Oxford, and another in Holborn, London; and the second soon followed. The founder of this Order, St. Francis-or, as his disciples loved to called him, the "Seraphic Father"-was born at Assisi, in Umbria, in 1182. With him, as with many other great enthusiastic natures, the extreme severity of his religion may be partially attributed to the reaction of a generous mind suddenly turned from dissolute courses. He became a solitary, and was thought mad. His father threw him into prison, hoping thus to reclaim him, but without effect. He then took him before the Bishop of Assisi, in order to make him renounce all claim to the paternal possessions. Francis's answer was as brief as it was significant-he stripped himself, even to his shirt, before the Bishop. Soon after this the "madness" assumed "method"-followers flocked around-rules were drawn up and sanctioned by the reigning pontiff-the potent Order, which was eventually to exercise such influence upon the affairs of the civilized worldthe Order of the Franciscans-was formally established. Francis died in 1226, and was canonized in 1230. Among his latest acts was an endeavour to convert the Sultan Meledin, to whom he is said to have made the offer of throwing himself into the flames to testify his own faith in what he taught, and the sending of deputations to different countries, and among the rest one to England, to introduce the new discipline. The nine persons sent to this country came first to Canterbury, where some stayed to build a house and establish themselves; others hastened up to London, where they were received with open arms by the Dominicans, who had so shortly before preceded them, and who now hospitably entertained them for fifteen days. This little incident may show, from the entire absence of any jealous feeling of rivalry, how true and earnest were both Orders as yet in their desire to fulfil the high mission allotted to them. A sheriff of London next received them into his house in Cornhill, where they made themselves cells; but the place not having been consecrated, they were unable to perform divine offices in it. Their numbers, too, now increased so rapidly, that a more important habitation became in every way necessary. John Ewin, mercer, accordingly purchased a void plot of ground near to St. Nicholas's Shambles (part of the site of the present hospital), and there commenced the charitable and pious work. Nor did he rest here. Very beautiful buildings" were soon seen to rise on the once void plot of ground, principally at Ewin's cost; and when the whole was finished,

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the good citizen set the seal to his exertions by entering the Order himself in the humble position of a lay-brother. Other citizens also stepped forward to complete what had been so well begun. William Joyner, Lord Mayor in 1239, built the brethren a chapel, the sumptuous character of which may be judged by the expense-two hundred pounds of the money of the thirteenth century; Henry Wallis, another Lord Mayor, raised the Nave; Mr. Walter Porter, an alderman, built the Chapter House, and gave divers vessels of brass for the kitchen; Thomas Felcham built the Vestry; George Rokesly, a third mayor, the Dormitory, to which he added beds; Mr. Bartholomew, of the Castle, the Refectory, in which he always feasted the friars on St. Bartholomew's Day; Mr. Peter De Heliland the Infirmary; and Mr. Bevis Bond, the herald and King-at-arms, the Studies," or Library. Can any better evidence be desired of the state of the religious feelings of society at the period in question-the "hungering and thirsting" for spiritual refreshment--for a practical example of the "righteousness" which men yearned after, but felt themselves inadequate to-or at least without much encouragement-than is here afforded? It should seem that the difficulty of the good friars must have been, not to inquire who would erect them a habitation, but to whom that high privilege should be allotted. The still growing reputation of the house attracted the attention of more distinguished personages than those we have mentioned. A new church must now be erected worthy of such benefactors. Accordingly the second wife of Edward I., Margaret, began to build them a magnificent choir; John Britain, Earl of Richmond, built the nave, and gave, in addition, hangings, vestments, and a golden chalice for the altar; Gilbert de Clare bestowed twenty large beams out of his forest of Tunbridge; the excellent Philippa, wife to the young Edward III., gave sixty-two pounds; and lastly, Edward's mother, Isabel, gave seventy pounds: other gifts were also received; "and so," says Stow, "the work was done within the space of twentyone years, 1337." This splendid church, when finished, was three hundred feet long, eighty-nine broad, and seventy-four high. From that time even Westminster Abbey itself appears to have been almost thrown into comparative shade as a place of assemblage for divine worship for persons of wealth and rank during life, and for their burial when deceased. Weever, in his Funeral Monuments,' writes “This Abbey-church hath been honoured with the sepulture of four queens, four duchesses, four countesses, one duke, two earls, eight barons, and some thirty-five knights. . . . and in all, from the first foundation unto the dissolution, six hundred and sixty-three persons of quality were here interred." The most memorable of these is the

"She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs, Who tore the bowels of her mangled mate;”Queen Isabella, wife of the second Edward. The poet might have given an additional trait to the terrible portrait: he was 'not aware, probably, that the same affectionate lady directed that the heart of her husband should be placed upon her breast when she was dead, which was accordingly done. Among the other great personages who took up their last resting-place in the house of the Grey Friars were the foundress of the second church, Queen Margaret; the Queen of Scots, wife of David Bruce; Baron Fitzwarren, and his wife Isabel, sometime Queen of the Isle of Man ; Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of Eng

land, who was executed at Tyburn in 1308; Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, beheaded in 1329; the enterprising John Philpot, Mayor of London; John, Duke of Bourbon, taken prisoner at Agincourt, and buried here after a dreary captivity of eighteen years; Sir Nicholas Brember; and Thomas Burdett, who was beheaded in 1477 for the mere utterance of an angry wish. He had a favourite buck, which the King (Edward IV.) happened to kill. The unfortunate owner, on hearing of the circumstance, said he wished the horns were in the body of the man who had urged the King to shoot his poor animal. The saying reached the King's ears, and Burdett was immediately sent to execution!

*

Another memory of the old Grey Friars is connected with its library, which must have been of no ordinary extent or value; and was founded by the famous Whittington, who laid the first stone in 1421. It was a noble room, one hundred and twenty-nine feet long by thirty-one broad, wainscoted throughout, with carved shelves, desks, and settles. The books for the new library were furnished at a cost of 556/. 10s.; 4007. of which were defrayed by Sir Richard Whittington, and the rest by Dr. Thomas Whinchelsen, a friar of the house. Stow has in particular informed us that one hundred marks were paid for "writing out of D. Nicholas de Lyra, his works, in two volumes, to be chained there." The historian of Christ's Hospital has justly observed, "the library was not a mere useless appendage to the establishment." As the friars began by surpassing the monks in self-mortification, comparing together the early periods of the respective orders, so did they at a later period far outstrip them in learning and intellectual power. The most illustrious name of the period is that of Bacon : he was a friar. And of the different orders (for others besides the two great ones rose subsequently from time to time) the Franciscans, or Friars Minor as they sometimes in their humility delighted to call themselves, were the most distinguished. Popes, cardinals, patriarchs, and legates-archbishops, bishops, and the most eminent writers in divinity or science-were proud to say they had been Franciscans. Institutions, like individuals, are frequently more severely tried by prosperity than by adversity. The Friars, as the Monks had done before them, stood the one nobly; but also, as with them, their strength wasted like wax before the fire when the other was applied. A short century may be said to comprise all that is essential of their history,-their rise-their power-their decay. What Friars had become in the fourteenth century may be seen in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.'

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The Grey Friars of course shared the common fate of the monastic establishments at the dissolution; although, as the inmates seem to have been more than commonly obsequious, they perhaps were also somewhat better treated than usual. The two documents preserved in connexion with this event are quite models in their way one is a letter from the Warden to Cromwell, before the suppression of the House; the other the deed of surrender, signed by the Warden and the brethren. One passage of the former runs thus: Also that it is not unknown to them that be learned in God's law, how God gave to the children of Israel, and to the clergy of Israel also, both cities and towns; but when they used themselves with idolatry and sin, then did the same God that gave the gifts move the Chaldees and Babylonians: yea, as Scripture saith, he called the

*Rev. W. Trollope.

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