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Rh Adam, instituted 1277 Geoffrey, died 1304 Richard de la Raye, Instituted 1304, resigned 1310 John Outrel, instituted 1310 John de Martham, died 1344 Hugh of Newton, instituted 1344, resigned 1344 Michael of Northburgh, instituted 1344, resigned 1354 John of Hale, instituted 1354, died 1355 John atte Corner, instituted 1355, died 1361 Hugh of Bridham, instituted 1361 William of Lokington, instituted 1369 John Talworth, instituted 1382 John Dede, instituted 1440 John Benet, instituted 1456 Hugh Clay, resigned 1471 William Blackpoll, instituted 1471, died H74 John Wykes, instituted 1474, died 1478 Edmund Hampden, instituted 1478, resigned 1484 Geoffrey Hemmysby, instituted 1484, died 1493 Edward Wellesbourne, instituted 1493 William Trew, instituted 1522, resigned Charles Chalfont, instituted 1541

Three hides of land at Ludgershall, valued at 60s., were granted by Henry II. to the brethren of Santingfeld near Wissant before 1156, but it is by no means certain that a hospital was actually built there. On other lands, near Luton in Bedfordshire, which were granted in the same charter, the hos- pital of Farley was founded shortly after, and it seems not unlikely that another was built at Ludgershall ; but the only actual evi- dence of its existence is the fact that the mas- ter of Farley in 1296 is called master of Farley and of Ludgershall. All other allusions to the lands given by Henry II. in this place de- scribe them as the property of the brethren of Santingfeld. At the suppression of the alien priories, the lands of Farley and Lud- gershall were granted in 1448 to King's College, Cambridge.

The priory of Newton Longville was founded by Walter Giffard as a cell to St. Faith's at Longueville near Rouen. The lands in Buckinghamshire which formed its endowment were granted to the Norman priory about 1150, and it seems probable that the English cell was built almost at once, as a grant of materials for the purpose was in- cluded in Walter Giffard's charter. Very little is known of the history of this house ; it was immediately subject to St. Faith's, and exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. In 1277 Edward I. sent the priory a gift of two tuns of wine. In 1331 the prior received a licence to go to the general chapter at Cluny with his suite. During the wars of the fourteenth century this priory probably suffered the same losses and inconveniences as other alien cells. It was finally granted to New College, Ox- ford, in 1441. The original endowment consisted of the manors of Great Horwood, Newton Long- ville, Whaddon and Akeley, with their churches ; tithes of other lands, fishpools and woods, and free pasture for stock, as well as

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/463


text:
Author:John Peter Lesley

Works

 * (with C. Gordon Ames)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Author:John Peter Lesley


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/McCoy, Frederick


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Rh all the monks might need for building pur- poses.

The temporalia. of the priory in 1291 amounted to £14 9s. 5d. In 1279 the priory held Akeley and its church in frank-almoin, Great Horwood and its church, and the church of Whaddon. In 1302 he held the village of Akeley as one knight's fee, and lands in Great Horwood. In 1316 he answered for Akeley, Newton Longville and Great Horwood ; in 1346 for half a fee in Akeley.

William, occurs 1236 Peter, occurs 1262 John de Panneville, occurs 1277 Richard, occurs 1297 William de Talley,' occurs 1306

Before the compilation of Domesday the Benedictine monks of St. Nicholas, Angers, held 2½ hides in Crafton of the Count of Mor- tain, valued at £4 Later on they acquired also the advowson of the church of Wing, and other lands in the same parish to the extent of 660 acres ; but it is quite uncertain when the priory was built. There was a suit in the reign of John and another in 1248 between the abbot of St. Nicholas and the Talbots with reference to feudal customs : Quintin Talbot first and William Talbot after him de- manding provision for thirty-two reapers and other rights, including two candles apiece for all their servants on Candlemas Day ; they also claimed the right to hold their courts in the abbot's hall at Wing as often as they pleased. There is no reference here to a monastery at Wing, and indeed it may be doubted if there ever was one in the strict sense at all : it seems more probable that it was but a small cell of two or three monks who resided there merely to look after the abbot's property. The fact that only two presenta- tions were ever made to the parish church by a prior of Wing, while the rest were made by the proctor-general in England of the Abbot of St. Nicholas, tends to support this theory. There are no remains of the monastic build- ings from which any certain conclusions may be drawn : the history of the priory is very obscure, and in all probability must remain so.

The original endowment included lands at Wing amounting to 660 acres, with the ad- vowson of the parish church. The monks of Wing had also in 1291 a pension of .1 zs. in the church of Henlow, Bedfordshire. The priory was in the king's hand between 1342 and 1361, and again from 1393 to 1423. In 1416 it was confiscated finally as an alien cell, and granted to the prioress and convent of St. Mary de Pré in Hertfordshire.

Geoffrey, occurs 1271 Robert de Bures, occurs 1312 Peter de Monte ardito, appointed 1377

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Macdonnell, Alastair Ruadh


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N giving a brief account of the Agriculture of Bucks, it seems desirable to review shortly its history. Several well-known writers have given their impressions of it, though none of them speak in very flattering terms. One, Edward Lawrence, a Surveyor to the then Duke of Buckingham, in a book published 1727, gives some insight into the circumstances of that period. Rents appear to have been from ten to fifteen shillings an acre or more, the tenant paying rates and taxes, while the covenants of the leases were very stringent. A great deal of the land was unenclosed, and there were many ' common-fields,' both of arable and pasture. The four-course shift seems to have prevailed and was generally: ist, fallow; and, wheat or barley ; 3rd, beans or peas ; 4th, barley or oats. There were special covenants regulating the growth of woad, weld (one of the mignonette family giving a beautiful yellow dye), madder, etc., the cultivation of which must have been very remunerative, for the ' woad men ' were willing to pay £2 a year extra rent per acre for the privilege of growing them. Labourers' wages were a shilling a day in summer, and 9d. and 10d. in winter, while domestic servants received about 3 a year. Arthur Young, writing in 1771, seems to have only seen the Aylesbury side of the county, while on his riding tour through the Midlands. He found rents varying from 6s. to 20s. an acre, with an average of about 14s. He condemned the system of farming, the dirty condition of the crops, and also the unenclosed state of most of the land. The course in that district was: 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans ; a wasteful system, which merited his censure. The very shallow ploughing, and the deep ridge and furrow, both in arable and pasture, without any underground draining, were also severely condemned. With keen insight he declared that, if the landlords would enclose and drain the land, ' All this vale would make as fine meadows as any in the world.' In common with Lawrence, he protested against the tenants gathering the cow-dung off the fields to dry and burn, and the latter warned stewards to see that the tenants did not use too much of the pig-dung to wash their linens with ! Farming must have improved soon after Young's day, for Cobbett, in his Rural Rides in 1826, speaks eloquently and enthusiastically of all that he saw in the Aylesbury district ; and Youatt, writing some eight years later, compares the Vale of Aylesbury to the justly celebrated Pevensey Level and Romney Marsh.

Coming to the present time we find that Bucks, like most other

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/MacDougall, Duncan


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Rh counties, having benefited by the good times from 1855 to 1875 or thereabouts, has fallen on a period of agricultural depression. Both money and labour are scarce, and consequently the fields are too often dirty, the hedges uncared for, and the old pride in good management seems to be wanting. A ride through the country at harvest time will show a large amount of docks in the corn, while couch and other ' trash ' make themselves unpleasantly conspicuous throughout the year. The tendency to abandon arable land, and either lay it down to grass, or allow it to lay itself down, is particularly marked in this county ; though from the appearance of some of the newly laid down land the process does not seem very remunerative. How far this change in farming has at present gone may be seen by comparing the Agricultural Returns for Bucks of Corn and Grass for 1867 with those for 1904. The former date, if not the earliest, is among the earliest of the Returns.

The increase in the acreage under oats is in keeping with the general returns throughout the country, and proves that this most useful grain is yearly more appreciated.

The county seems to be naturally divided into three areas for agri- cultural comparison. The Thames Valley, the Chiltern Hills with the smaller spurs and vales running from them, and the Vale of Aylesbury.

In the Thames Valley there is generally a varying depth of kindly working soil overlying a hot gravel. Both meadow and arable lands give a very satisfactory return for good management in a damp season ; but, in a hot dry one, both soon burn, and the yield is very meagre. On the higher ground the soil generally deteriorates, and is often a poor, hungry flint-gravel very difficult to farm with any chance of a profit. Between Maidenhead and London there is a stronger section of land with considerable breadths of brick earth. Here farming assumes the character of market-gardening. This, aided by cheap manure from London, usually affords very satisfactory returns.

The soil on the Chilterns is almost everywhere gravel or flints, mixed with a considerable proportion of retentive clay, and resting on chalk, the covering being extremely thin in many parts. It is not an attractive land from a farmer's point of view, but it throws up some very good herbage in a kindly season ; that is to say one with plenty of showers in April and May. The hop trefoil, known locally as ' black grass,' appears to be indigenous, and very soon asserts itself in any laid down land, as does the white clover in a somewhat less degree. An excellent quality of wheat is grown on these hills, but the yield is seldom good, and rarely exceeds three quarters per acre. Good crops of medium quality oats are also taken, but barley is not often satisfactory either in

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Rh colour or skin. On the whole it may be said that the farming on these high grounds is not of a very advanced kind, and is certainly not improved by the very general habit of picking stones and selling them to the highway authorities. In the spring the teams are frequently on the road carting stones when they ought to be cleaning the land. Moreover many good judges condemn the excessive picking of stones as being distinctly injurious to the good farming of the land.

In the Vale of Aylesbury, which may roughly be said to extend from beyond Buckingham to Amersham, the conditions are very different. A rich, kindly working land rests on strong blue clay, and is capable of making a splendid return for any outlay. Experience has taught the farmers of that favoured district that grass is the natural product of the land, grass of a quality, both for milking and feeding purposes, hardly surpassed in any district in England. Consequently one may travel mile after mile and hardly see a ploughed field. Many acres have been laid down to grass, and are being laid down every year ; for, though the land will yield fine crops of wheat and beans, it is found that grass gives a better return. It is delightful to see the great broad- backed oxen in the pastures, and the whole vale has a pleasing air of prosperity. There is a good deal more arable land at the Amersham end of the vale, which is, in the bottoms, capable of growing any ordinary farm crop in the most satisfactory way. A stroll along those pleasant valleys, with their snug farmhouses, and well filled folds and stackyards, is a delightful experience in thesedays of agricultural de- pression. There is another fine stretch of country on the high ground dividing the Thames and Ouse watersheds. The road from Waddesdon through Winchendon and the pleasing village of Long Crendon to Thame traverses some excellent land, suitable for both roots and corn. With the advent of the Great Central Railway this country will soon become better known.

In giving a description of the system of cultivation in Buckingham- shire, there is not the four-course shift which was all but universal for years in the Eastern Counties to start with as a base. Any deviation from that course used to be looked upon by a Norfolk or Suffolk farmer as flat heresy, which nothing but extraordinary circumstances could in any way justify. There does not seem to be any corresponding feeling in this county. No very strict routine is observed, but so far as there is a regular shift it takes the character of a five-course one, namely rst, fallow or roots ; 2nd, barley or oats ; 3rd, clover or peas ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, barley or oats. The greater part of the turnips is eaten on the land by the sheep, and the plough is kept going as close to the fold as may be. Mangolds, which grow extremely well in many parts, are kept in clamps for the stock in the yards and for the sheep in spring. The c Yellow Globe ' and the ' Golden Tankard ' are the most popular varie- ties, and, owing to their early maturity, many growers do not hesitate to use them in December or even earlier. Oats come well and gener- ally yield a heavy crop after roots, but barley is apt to be coarse and not

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/467


text:
Author:Charles Gordon Ames

Works

 * (with J. Peter Lesley)

Works about Ames

 * "Ames, Charles Gordon," in The Biographical Dictionary of America by Rossiter Johnson, Norwood: American Biographical Society (1906)
 * "Ames, Charles Gordon," in The Biographical Dictionary of America by Rossiter Johnson, Norwood: American Biographical Society (1906)

title: Author:Charles Gordon Ames


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Rh a very good malting sample. The best results are obtained when barley follows wheat : white wheat is much more grown than red, and is usually a capital sample of good weight and a fine plump berry. The straw, too, is singularly free from mildew, bright and good, and generally sells at a very good price. Clover is usually sown with a proportion of rye- grass, and is then known as ' mixture,' and it may as a rule be depended upon to give a good return every eight years. The proximity of London causes both hay and straw to be sold in large quantities off many farms, and it is to be feared that the manure to compensate this wastage of the land is very frequently not forthcoming.

The implements used on the farms are of the kind common to all counties. Many of them on the smaller holdings are extremely old- fashioned, but in general they are fairly up to date. The plough used more than any other in the hill districts, and known here as the ' swing' plough, has two equal-sized wheels in front with a stout iron standard springing from the axle, which works free in a loop on the end of the beam, thus forming a sort of fore-carriage. It is claimed for it that it gives much more freedom of action, and does better work on the side of the hills than the ordinary two-wheeled ploughs. It is in common use on the light lands in Suffolk, and is there known as the ' gallows ' plough. The ' one-way ' or ' turn-wrest ' plough is coming more into favour, and is useful for turning the furrows all down-hill in steep land. It is, however, somewhat cumbersome and looks unhandy. On the large farms the steam tackle is much used in the autumn for breaking up both corn and clover stubbles and is a distinct saver of labour. The various proprietors are kept very busy when the weather is favourable. The usual price for medium sized lots is about 12s. an acre for plough- ing, 12s. an acre for cultivating twice, and 3s. an acre for harrowing. Mowing machines and self-binders are everywhere used for the hay and corn harvests, and the light and handy American horse-rakes are much appreciated. The light-running local waggons are used in preference to carts for carrying the hay and corn, much skill being displayed by the drivers in clearing some of the steep fields, while accidents very rarely happen. The corn is all thrashed by the travelling thrashing machines, a very costly process by the time everything is paid for. The cheerful sound of the flail in the fine old barns is no longer heard, and the fixed thrashing machine has quite disappeared.

The land was at one time in the great majority of cases held by leases of five, seven, or fourteen years, but a great deal of it is now held by yearly agreements. The landlord apparently does not like to alienate his property for any length of time in case values should improve, and the tenant fears that there may still be a lower depth of depression to be reached, and consequently does not care to risk a lease. Michaelmas entry is practically universal, and the valuations of tenant-right are taken in the usual way. The outgoing tenant thrashes his own corn and markets it, the incoming tenant takes the hay and straw. There is no hard and fast rule as to terms : on some estates they are taken at market-

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Rh price, while on others it is at consuming price of two-thirds the value. Dung is generally paid for. Farmhouses are as a rule fairly good, but the accommodation in many of them is very primitive and not in accord- ance with modern ideas. The average tenant is not, however, very exacting in that respect. On some estates, of course, the houses are excellent. The farm buildings are mostly commodious and afford good shelter for the stock, and the spacious barns are invaluable. Happily the doctrine, which prevailed a few years since, that barns had served their purpose and were no longer wanted, has had its day.

The cottages are generally good and comfortable, if not very picturesque. Most of them have a fair-sized garden, and, where feasible, it will be found that a moderate addition to the garden is vastly more useful to the tenant than an allotment very likely some distance away. Cottage rents in Bucks average from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per week, but they are a good deal higher in parts of the Thames Valley.

The regular labourers on the farms are tacitly hired by the year. About 13s. a week, with a little extra in hay and harvest time, and from £2 to £3 given at Michaelmas, known as ' Michaelmas money,' is about the average wage. Carters and shepherds get a little more, and the latter usually have head money for the lambs, about 5s. per score on all lambs reared by a certain day.

Unfortunately the outlook for labour on farms generally is not an encouraging one ; and, in the Home Counties within the radius of London's attractive influence, it is a very serious question. There is, moreover, no cottage building going on, owing, among other things, to the restrictions of the County Council's bye-laws. A cottage tumbling to pieces is a far more common sight than one being erected. Agita- tion, however, against these regulations may in the future lead to their relaxation and a renewal of building operations.

In the matter of cattle and sheep, Bucks, unlike many of its neigh- bouring counties, has no distinct breed of its own. Arthur Young, at the end of the i8th century, found the Longhorns in possession, and Youatt, writing later, reports the same state of things. The latter cer- tainly claimed that the Bucks breed of Longhorns was distinct ; modern breeders, however, would hardly agree with him, but would class them with the ordinary Midland stock, the points of difference being too slender to constitute a separate breed. Longhorns are still kept in the late Duke of Buckingham's noted park at Stowe, and certainly the herd is worthy of its beautiful surroundings. If Bucks has no breed of cattle of its own, it certainly contains worthy representatives of most of the best breeds. Shorthorns of the purest and most fashionable strains are to be found in many parts. Notably at Waddesdon Manor, where the Hon. Alice Rothschild has some magnificent cattle capable of holding their own anywhere. Not far away Mr. Leopold Rothschild has at Ascott a fine herd, and near Bletchley Mr. Leon is an active patron of the breed. At Hambleden, near Henley, the Hon. F. Smith has a small but very select herd.

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text:
The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ames, Charles Gordon

AMES, Charles Gordon, American Unitarian clergyman, editor and lecturer: b. Dorchester, Mass., 3 Oct. 1828; d. 15 April 1912. He was graduated at the Geauga Seminary, Ohio, and ordained in 1849 as a Free Baptist but later became a Unitarian and succeeded James Freeman Clarke as pastor of the Church of the Disciples, Boston. He was editor of the Minnesota Republican, the first Republican paper in the Northwest, in 1854, and the Christian Register of Boston, 1877-80. He wrote ‘George Eliot's Two Marriages’ (1886); ‘As Natural as Life’ (1894); ‘Poems’ (1898); ‘Sermons of Sunrise’ (1901); ‘Five Points of Faith’ (1903); etc. He was always deeply interested in social and philanthropic questions.


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Rh The popular Aberdeen Angus is kept at Danesfield, near Marlow, by Mr. Hudson, who has been extremely successful with it and crosses from it at shows all over the country. This breed also finds an active supporter at the northern end of the county in the Rev. C. Bolden, of Preston Bissett.

Mr. Hudson also keeps a few of the stylish little Kerries, and with them breeds some excellent cross-bred cattle, which are generally appre- ciated by butchers, for they furnish the choice small joints so much in demand at present. Both Jerseys and Alderneys are scattered all over the county and do remarkably well in most parts. A small and very choice lot of the former is kept at Greenlands. Besides the pure bred stocks, there are many very excellent herds of milking cows. Foremost among them is the admirable herd of Mr. Scott-Murray at Hambleden. Big, useful, stylish cows, they would attract attention in any county and in any company.

The numbers of cattle in the county were 57,448 of all ages in 1867, and 75,992 in 1904, which shows a very satisfactory in- crease.

Sheep, on the other hand, show a very remarkable falling off in the same time and mark a serious decline in the style of farming. In 1867 there were of sheep of all ages 349,474, while in 1904 the numbers had declined to 178,539. A good many lambs are made fat each year and command as a rule very satisfactory prices in the early part of the season. There is no breed of sheep peculiar to the county. Oxford Downs are kept generally on the Buckingham side, where the deep pastures suit their great frames. Foremost among the breeders of them is Mr. Treadwell of Winchendon, who has been extremely success- ful with them, and whose name is inseparably connected with the breed. Hampshire Downs are found in the Thames Valley and more or less all over the county. The Bucks farmers, however, do not restrict themselves to these two breeds, but endeavour also to meet the demand for smaller mutton. Black-faced Scotch, Cheviots and Welsh are seen on many pastures. Kent or Romney Marsh are also competing for public favour, and bid fair to establish themselves. An increase in the price of wool would probably lead to quite as many sheep being kept in the county as in former times.

Pigs, like sheep, show a serious falling off in numbers. In 1867 there were 52,897, in 1904 there were only 34,339. Bad prices, coupled with the restrictions under the Swine Fever Regulations, have caused very many farmers to give up breeding them. The Black Berkshires are practically the only breed kept, and it would be hard to find a better. There are a few Red Tamworths and Tamworth crosses, which are generally liked where tried, but white pigs are not commonly kept.

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/MacDougall, Patrick Leonard


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Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/471

Rh With regard to horses the Shire Bred predominates in the county, and some admirable specimens of the breed are kept in Mr. Hudson's stables at Danesfield. There is always a ready market at a remunerative price for a good shire horse. Mr. Hudson sends out some excellent horses to travel the country in the spring which are thoroughly appre- ciated over a very wide area. A good many farmers, however, take advantage of the ready access to London to get down very useful horses which can no longer stand the wear and tear of the streets, but are capable of doing good work on the farms. For ploughing on the tenderer lands and for the mowing and reaping machines they are extremely useful.

Poultry hardly receives the attention it deserves, but there is a growing tendency to devote more trouble to it, and to keep a better class on many farms. The county is, however, a long way behind Surrey and Sussex with regard to this branch of farming. Turkeys are kept in fair quantities in many parts of the county, and in a good beech-mast season thrive well among the trees. Geese are not very generally kept, in spite of the small expense involved in rearing them. Ducks are the great speciality of the county, for it possesses in the Aylesbury duck a breed of its own everywhere highly esteemed. A great many very fine birds are kept in the Vale of Aylesbury and in most parts of the county. Great trouble is taken with them, and the aim is to get them hatched as early in January as possible in order to have them ready by the end of March and in April. If brought to the markets in good condition they will then readily make from i 2s. to 1 5*. a couple.

Rabbits on many farms make a useful addition to the returns from the smaller items, but they are not kept in any large quantities. The land does not so readily lend itself to warrens as the large sandy heaths of the Eastern Counties. In some seasons, when the beech- mast is plentiful, the wood pigeon also is laid under profitable con- tributions. These birds do not, however, now come in such huge flocks as they used to do formerly.

Pheasant rearing, on the other hand, has become a considerable industry and now represents a good deal of invested capital. Starting at Missenden, it has spread along the Chiltern Hills and has enabled a good deal of very poor land to be profitably occupied. Both the ring-necked and other varieties are kept, and there seems little to choose between them. Wild ducks are also in many places reared in large numbers alongside the pheasants.

A great feature of the county is the large extent of its commons and heaths, covering many thousands of acres. The grazing rights on these are a very fruitful source of discord, and it may well be doubted if they are in reality very much assistance to farmers. In many cases sheep are sent on to the commons to graze when they would have done far more good if kept on the land at home to enrich it for the next crop.

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Rh With the exception of the orchards in the Slough district, there is not much to be said of the general culture of fruit. The orchard on the vast majority of farms exhibits the same neglect that one has come to expect from their treatment in the country generally. Few young trees are planted ; and, if they are, they are seldom cared for, while the old trees are left alone. The soil is not, as a rule, naturally adapted for apples and pears, and their growth is seldom satisfactory, but cherries and all stone fruit thrive on the chalk. The cherry orchards of Cookham are a delightful sight, both in blossom and fruit time, and form one of the sights of the county.

Among the extra crops of the farm lucerne is but sparsely grown. Sainfoin is, however, very largely cultivated and thrives remarkably well in most years with very little assistance. Admirable both as hay and pasture, it is hard to over-estimate its value.

The farmers' chief vegetable pests are docks and couch grass, men- tioned above, charlock, which seems inseparable from chalk lands, and the scarlet poppy, known in Suffolk as ' canker,' which is very con- spicuous on many of the hot gravels. Of animal pests, rats and mice cause much damage to corn, both in stacks and barns, and seem to be increasing. Sparrows cause very serious loss in harvest time, while the blackbird does great damage to the fruit growers.

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 Abingdon [Abendone], Abbot of, 213, 217 Acard, 256a Achet, Walter, 25147 Ælfgifu. See Alveva Ælfric [Alvric], the chamberlain of King Edward, 267a, note 215 Ælfric [Alric], the cook, 216, 218, 274b Ælfric. See also Alric, Alvric Æthelric [Ailric], 217, 255b Ailric. See Æthelric Alan, 244a, 244b, note 243a Albert, 267a Albini [Albingi], Nigel de, 215, 231b, 268a Alden, a man of Earl Harold, 261a Aldene, a housecarl of King Edward, 219, 220, 272a Aldeva, a man of, 243b Aldred, a man of Earl Morcar, 260b Alestan, 245a Alfgar, a man of Edward cilt, 252a Algar, Earl, 273a a man of, 268a Alii, a housecarl of King Edward, 220, 225, 241a, 273b a man of, 273b Almar, Almaer, 243b, 244a, 244b, 245b, 263b Almar, a man of Brictric, 262a Almar, a man of Earl Harold, 245b Almar, a thegn, 251a Aimer, a man of Bundi the staller, 255a Alnod cilt (Chentisc), a thegn of King Edward, 217, 237b, 238b a man of, 256b Alric, 252b, 260a, 260b men of, 230, 240b 252b, 266a Alric, a man of Alwin son of Goding, 245b Alric, a man of Earl Harold, 260b Alric, a man of Osulf, 257b Alric, a man of Bishop Wulfwig, 274a Alric, Alvric, son of Coding, a man and thegn of King Edward, 218, 219, 248a, ,248b, 250a, 250b, 251a, 251b men of, 219, 245b, 246a, 246b, 250b, 251a, 252a, 252b, 263a, 274a, 276b Alsi, an Englishman, 208, 216, 217, 274b, 275a brother of, 254a wife of, 217, 275a Aluene. See Alwen Alverad, 245b Alverad of Wing [Withunga], a man of, 244b Alvered, Alvred, butler to the Count of Mortain, 246a, note 243a Alvered of Thame [Tame], 273a Alveva, sister of Earl Harold, man of, 236b Alveva, sons of, 247b, 248a Alveva, wife of Herold, 256b Alvied of Aylesbury. See Aylesbury Alviet, a man of Queen Edith, 251b Alvred. See Alvered Alvric, a man of Queen Edith, 271a Alvric, a man of Godric the sheriff, 271a Alvric, a thegn of King Edward, 270b, 271a Alvric. See also Ælfric, Alric Alward, a man of Coding, 256a Alward, a man of Tovi, 270a Alward, a thegn, 249b men of, 245b, 249b Alward cilt, a thegn of King Edward, 249b a man of, 249b Alwen, a certain woman, 224, 249b Alwi, a man of Alward cilt, 249b Alwi, a man of Alwin Varus, 260a Alwi, a man of Brictric, 255a Alwi, a thegn, 256b Alwid, the maid, 258b Alwin, brother of Bishop Wulfwig, 211, 269a Alwin, a man of Eddeva the Fair, 271b Alwin, a man of Queen Edith, 253b,253a 264a Alwin, a man of Edwin son of Borret, 241b Alwin, a man of Estan, 239a Alwin, a man of Syred, 243a Alwin of Nuneham (Courtenay). See Nuneham Alwin, son of Coding, a man of, 245b Alwin, a thegn of King Edward, 251a, 252a, 253a, 253b Alwin, a man of, 245b Ambrose, 253b Andrew, 256b Anschitil, 240a, 241a, 273b Ansculf the sheriff (de Picquigny), 209, 213, 220, 225, 254a, 256a Ansel, 265a Ansgar [Asgar] the staller, 214, 233a, 259a men of, 250b, 252a, 259a, 259b, 260a, 265b Asgar. See Ansgar Asgot, a man of Earl Harold, 236a Atule, Edmar. See Edmar Aubigny. See Albini Aubrey, Earl, 209, 221, 231, 232b Avelin, a man of, 234b, 236b Avelin, a thegn of King Edward, 234b. 237a Aylesbury [Elesberie], Alvied of, 245a the church of, 233b Azelina, widow of Ralf Tailgebosc, 220, 231b, 274b Azor, men of, 237a, 245b, 261b, 269a

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Rh Azor, son of Tored, a thegn of King Edward, 232b Azor, son of Toti, a housecarl of King Edward and man of Queen Edith, 213, 219, 230, 258b, 268b, 269b, 269b, 272a, 272b men of, 230, 237a, 2504, 272a

Baldwin [Balduin], 255b, 256b, 257a men of, 246a, 257a Baldwin [Balduin], a man of Archbishop Stigand, 254a, 254b; Baldwin [Balduin], son of Herluin, a man of, 237b Barking [Berchinges], Abbess of, 231a, 242b man of, 255a Barking [Berchinges], Church of, 242b, 243a Basset, Ralf, 213 Basset, Richard, 213 Bayeux, Odo Bishop of, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 217, 218, 224, 230 231a, 234b, 235a, 235b, 236a, 236b, 237a, 237b, 238a, 238b, 239a Beauchamp, Hugh de, 215, 231a, 263b, 264a Bee, Walter de, 2494 Berevile, Bereville, Nigel de, 231b, 268b Bernard, 245a, 255a Berner, 250a, 270b Berseres, Bersers, Urse de, 231b, 271b Bisi, a man of, 256a Bisi, a thegn of King Edward, 263a, 265a Blacheman, a man of Earl Tosti(g), 241b, 242a Blossevile, Gilbert de, 273b Boding the constable, 214, 265a, 265b Boding. See also Bondig the staller Bolbec [Bolebec, Bolebech, Molebee], Hugh de, 208, 213, 221, 231a, 247b, 249a, 264a, 264b, 265a Bolbec, Osbern de, 213 Bolest, Alric, 277b Bondig [Bondi, Bundi] the staller, men of, 246a, 255a Bonvaslet, William, 240a Borgeret. See Borret Borret, Borgeret, Burgered, a thegn of King Edward, 217, 240b, 241a men of, 240b, 241a, 246b, 269a sons of, 240a, 241b, 246a Boscroard, William de, 257b Braose, William de, 215 Brian Fitz Count, 214 Brictric, 2446 Brictric, men of, 237a, 244a, 255a,255b, 261a, 261b, 262a, 262b, 264b, 267b, 270a Brictric, Brihtric, a man of Queen Edith, 214, 218, 258a, 261b, 262a, 264b Brictric, Brihtric, a thegn of King Edward, 258b, 263a, 267a Brictuin, a man of Earl Harold, 247a Brictuin, a man of Earl Tosti(g), 254b Brienz, 253a Brihtric. See Brictric Brixtuin, a thegn of King Edward, 245b Bruman, a man of Archbishop Stigand, 245b Buckingham [Bochingeham], the church of, 234a Bundi the staller. See Boding, Bondig. Burchard [Burcard] (of Shenley), housecarl and thegn of King Edward, 219, 230, 247a, 247b Burgered, Burgeret. See Borret

Cahainges, William de, 260a Canterbury Cathedral (Christ Church), 233a Lanfranc, Archbishop of, 210, 211, 223, 224, 231a, 232b, 233a Stigand, Archbishop of, 233b, 236a men of, 236a, 243b, 245a, 245b, 254a, 254b, 266a, 266b Castellon, William de, 230 Celsi (? Cholsey), William de, 256a Chava, Lewin, the king's bailiff (prefctus), 275b Chentis, a man of Levenot son of Osmund, 247a Chester, Hugh, Earl of, 208, 212, 219, 221, 230, 231a, 247a Chetel, 276a Cioches, Gunfrey (Gunfrid) de, 231b, 272b Clare, Richard de, 218 Coleman, a man of Brictric, 261a Cookham [Cocheham] (Berks), Church of, 223, 243a Coutances, Geoffrey Bishop of, 211, 216, 217, 218, 221, 225, 230, 231a, 239a, 239b, 240a, 240b, 241a, 241b, 268b, note 217 Cratel, Godric, 276a Crawley (North) [Crauelai], Church of St. Firmin, 224, 257a Creslow [Cresslai], Wlwene, Wulwene of, 215, 263b Crispin, Miles, 213, 214, 218, 219, 231a, 260a, 260b, 261a, 261b, 262a, 262b, 263a, note 214 wife of, 214. Curci, Richard de, 217

Deus (?) men of (homo def), 241a, 241b, 264a Dodinz, a man of Asgar the staller, 259a Dot, a man of Deus, 264a Drogo, 254a

Eadgifu. See Eddeva Eadwine. See Eduin, Edwin Eddeda, 249a. See also Eddeva Eddeva, 240a man of, 234b son of, 217, 230, 246a Eddeva the Fair, 247a men of, 255a, 271b Eddeva, wife of Syred, 230 Eddeva, Eadgifu, Eddeda, wife of Wulfward White, 216, 217, 230, 239a, 249a Eddid, Edid, Queen. See Edith Edduin, a man of, 239b Edduin. See also Edwin Eddulf, 263a man of, 239b Eddulf, son of Borgret, 240a Ederic, a man of Asgar the staller, 250b Ederic. See also Edric of Marlow Edestan, a man of Alnod Chentis, 256b Edith [Eddid, Edid, Eddeva] Queen, 216, 217, 218, 236a, 236b, 239b, 240a, 249a, 258a, 259a, 266a, 274b, 276b men of, 235b, 248a, 250b, 251b, 253a, 258a, 261b, 262a, 264a, 264b, 265a, 268b, 271a, 275a Edmar ' atule,' a thegn of King Edward, 212, 217, 243b Edmund, a thegn of King Edward, 259a Edric of Marlow. See Marlow Eduin, a man of Azor, 245b Eduin. See also Edwin Edward, a man of Earl Tosti(g), 253a Edward, a thegn of King Edward 251a, 253a Edward of Salisbury. See Salisbury Edward cilt, 251b a man of, 252a Edward cilt, a man of Earl Harold, 244a Edward cilt, a thegn of King Edward, 249b, 250a

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text: Hyam’s Lessee v. Edwards (1 U.S. 1)

title: Hyam’s Lessee v. Edwards (1 U.S. 1)


text: Bethel v. Lloyd

title: Bethel v. Lloyd


text: Weston’s Lessee v. Stammers

title: Weston’s Lessee v. Stammers


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Boström, Christoffer Jacob


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Rh appreciated the fact that their country is no longer a world apart, and President Wilson had brought his whole people round to that view when they consented to throw themselves into the War. But North America is no longer even a continent; in this twentieth century it is shrinking to be an island. Americans used to think of their three millions of square miles as the equivalent of all Europe; some day, they said, there would be a United States of Europe as sister to the United States of America. Now, though they may not all have realised it, they must no longer think of, Europe apart from Asia and Africa. The Old World has become insular, or in other words a unit, incomparably the largest geographical unit on our Globe.

There is a remarkable parallelism between the short history of America and the longer history of England; both countries have now passed through the same succession of Colonial, Continental, and Insular stages. The Angle and Saxon settlements along the east and south coast of Britain have often been regarded as anticipating the thirteen English Colonies along the east coast of North America; what has not always been remembered is that there was a continental stage in English history to be compared with


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88 that of Lincoln in America. The wars of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror were in no small degree between contending parts of England, with the Norsemen intervening, and England was not effectively insular until the time of Elizabeth, because not until then was she free from the hostility of Scotland, and herself united, and therefore a unit, in her relations with the neighbouring continent. America is to-day a unit, for the American people have fought out their internal differences, and it is insular, because events are compelling Americans to realise that their so-called continent lies on the same globe as the Continent.

Picture upon the map of the world this War as it has been fought in the year 1918. It has been a war between Islanders and Continentals, there can be no doubt of that. It has been fought on the Continent, chiefly across the landward front of peninsular France; and ranged on the one side have been Britain, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan—all insular. France and Italy are peninsular, but even with that advantage they would not have been in the War to the end had it not been for the support of the Islanders. India and China—so far as China has been in


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 Democratic Ideals and Reality, 1919 Fig 13 p 90.jpg 13.—These circles represent the relative populations of the World-Island and its satellites.


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Rh the War on the Manchurian front—may be regarded as advanced guards of British, American, and Japanese sea-power. Dutch Java is the only island of large population which is not in the Western Alliance, and even Java is not on the side of the Continentals. There can be no mistaking the significance of this unanimity of the Islanders. The collapse of Russia has cleared our view of the realities, as the Russian revolution purified the ideals for which we have been fighting.

The facts appear in the same perspective if we consider the population of the Globe. More than fourteen-sixteenths of all humanity live on the Great Continent, and nearly one-sixteenth more on the closely off-set Islands of Britain and Japan. Even to-day, after four centuries of emigration, only about one-sixteenth live in the lesser continents. Nor is time likely to change these proportions materially. If the middle-west of North America comes presently to support, let us say, another hundred million people, it is probable that the interior of Asia will at the same time carry two hundred millions more than now, and if the Tropical part of South America should feed a hundred millions more, then the Tropical parts of Africa and the Indies may not improbably support two


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Rh Edward the Confessor, 208, 209, 210, 222, 223, 230, 232b, 243a, 254b, 258b, 268b chamberlains of, 266b, 267a housecarls of, 219, 220, 246b, 247a, 251a, 257b, 271a, 272a, 272b, 273b men of, 241b, 244b, 255b, 263b, 267b, 268b, 269b, 271b, 276b a priest of, 266b thegns of, 237a, 238a, 238b, 239b, 240a, 241a, 243b, 245a, 247b, 248a, 248b, 249a, 249b, 250a, 250b, 251a, 252a, 253a, 253b, 256a, 257a, 258a, 258b, 259a, 260a, 260b, 263a, 264b, 265a, 265b, 266a, 267a, 269b, 270a, 270b, 271a, 272a, 272b Edwi, a man of, 263a Edwin, Earl, a man of, 250a, 254b Edwin, son of Borret, 217, 241b Edwin, a thegn of King Edward, 239b ,251a Eingar, a man of Earl Harold, 268a Eldred, a man of Archbishop Stigand, 266a Elmaer, a man of Alvric son of Coding, 246a Elmar, a thegn of King Edward, 266a Elric, a thegn, 252a Elsi, a thegn, 252a Epy, a man of Brictric, 267b Ernulf, 248b Estan, 256a a man of, 239a son of, 246a Eudo, 272b Felgeres (Fougeres), Ralf de, 215, 231b, 267b Felgeres (Fougeres), William de, 215, 231b, 266b Ferrers [Feireres, Ferrariis, Ferreres] Henry de, 214, 221, 231a, 265a, 265b Fin the Dane, 218, 258b, 276b wife of, 218 Fougéres. See Felgeres Fridebert, a man of Earl Lewin, 236b Fulco, 269a, 269b Fulcold, 245a Fulcuin, 266b

Gand (Ghent) Gilbert de, 215, 231a, 260a Gangemere, Alric, 236b sister of, 236b Geoffrey, 248b, 261b Geoffrey Bishop of Coutances. See Coutances Gernon, Robert, 231a, 259a Gethe or Gueth, Countess, wife of Earl Ralf, 253b, 254a Giffard, Gifard, Walter, 212, 213, 216, 219, 223, 224, 231a, 247b, 248a, 248b, 249a, 249b, 250a, 250b, 251a, 251b, 252a, 252b Gilbert, 257b Gilbert the priest, 224, 233/a Gilbert. See also Lisieux, Bishop of Gilo, brother of Ansculf de Picquigny, 215, 231b, 272b, 273a Girard, 270b, 273a Giron, Girunde, Turstin de, 237a Gladuin, a man of the Abbot of St. Albans, 245a Goda, Countess (? King Edward's sister), 267b, 268a man of, 273b Godbold, 252b Godfrey, 269a Coding, Godin, a man of, 256a sons of. See Alric, Alwin Godric, a man of, 244a Godric, brother of Bishop Wulfwig, 211, 234a Godric ' cratel,' 217, 218, 276a Godric, a man of Asgar the staller, 265b Godric, a man of Herold, 256b Godric, a man of Oswi, 257a Godric, the sheriff, 220, 235a, 258b, note 221 a man of, 271a Godric, a thegn, 237b, 241b Goduin the bedell, 277a Goduin, a man of Alric son of Coding, 263a Goduin, a man of Bishop Wulfwig, 252b Goduin, a man of Earl Harold, 271b Goduin, a man of Earl Leofwine, 235b, 237a, 239a Goduin, a man of King Edward, 271b Goduin, a man of Ulf, 257a Goduin, the priest, 245a, 256a, 275b Goduin cilt, abbot of Westminster, a man of, 244b Goduin. See also Godwine Godwine, Earl, 210, 218 daughter of, note 236b sons of, 210. See also Harold, Lewin, Tostig Golnil, a housecarl of King Edward, 220, 246b Gonni, a man of Alric son of Coding, 219, 276b Gozelin the Breton, 208, 215, 231b, 271a, 271b Gozer, son of, 275b Grestain [Greistein, Grestein], Abbey of, 212 monks of, 243b, 245b Grtmbald, man of Bisi, 256a Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester. See Rochester ' Hacon,' 217 Haimard, 269a Haminc. See Haming Haming, a thegn of King Edward, 214, 260b men of, 261b Hamon, son of Meinfelin, note 215 Harding, 276b Harold, Earl, 208, 209, 210, 232a, 232b, 234a, 254a men of, 235b, 236a, 243b, 244a, 244b, 245b, 247a, 254b, 260b, 261b, 265a, 266b, 267b, 268a, 271a, 271b, 272b, 273a sister of, 236b Helgot, 270a Helto (? dafifer), 234b, 236b Henry II (King), 213 Herald a thegn, 256b See also Herold Herbrand, 248a Herch, a man of Brictric, 262b Herding, 276b Hereford, Ralf, Earl of, 253b a man of, 273a Hereford, William, Earl of, 213 Herold, a thegn, 256a a man of, 256b wife of, 256b See also Herald, Harold Hervey, 257a Hervey the legate (legatus), 215, 228, 231b, 272a Hesdin, Hesding, Ernulf de, 230, 238a, 238b Hugh, 247a, 250a, 250b, 251a, 251b, 252a, 252b Hugh, son of Gozer, 275b Hugh. See also Chester, Earl of Humfrey, 246b, 247a, note 243a Humman, a man of Alii, 273b Hyde Abbey. See Winchester

Ilbert, a Norman sheriff, 221 Ingania, Richard, 216, 231b, 269b Ingold, a man of, 243b Ivo, 246b, 251b Ivry [Ivri, Iveri], Roger de, 213, 214, 230, 231b, 237b, 268b, 269b, 269b

Judith, Countess, 216, 219, 2314, 273b, 274a Knights (milites) two, 239b Lacei, Laci, Ilbert de, 212, 238b

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Rh hundred millions more. The Congo Forest alone, subdued to agriculture, would maintain some four hundred million souls if populated with the same density as Java, and the Javanese population is still growing. Have we any right, moreover, to assume that, given its climate and history, the interior of Asia would not nourish a population as virile as that of Europe, North America, or Japan?

What if the Great Continent, the whole World-Island or a large part of it, were at some future time to become a single and united base of sea-power? Would not the other insular bases be outbuilt as regards ships and outmanned as regards seamen? Their fleets would no doubt fight with all the heroism begotten of their histories, but the end would be fated. Even in the present War, insular America has had to come to the aid of insular Britain, not because the British fleet could not have held the seas for the time being, but lest such a building and manning base were to be assured to Germany at the Peace, or rather Truce, that Britain would inevitably be outbuilt and outmanned a few years later.

The surrender of the German fleet in the Firth of Forth is a dazzling event, but in all soberness, if we would take the long view, must we not still reckon with the possibility


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92 that a large part of the Great Continent might some day be united under a single sway, and that an invincible sea-power might be based upon it? May we not have headed off that danger in this War, and yet leave by our settlement the opening for a fresh attempt in the future? Ought we not to recognise that that is the great ultimate threat to the World's liberty so far as strategy is concerned, and to provide against it in our new political system?

Let us look at the matter from the Landsman's point of view.


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Rh Bardney Abbey to the London Charterhouse. Ivinghoe was granted by the bishop of Winchester to the monastery of Ashridge ; Bledlow, which had belonged to the monks of Grestain and passed from them to the king, was appropriated in 1413 to the College of St. Stephen, Westminster. Three churches in this county were granted by King Edward III. to his new foundation in connexion with St. George's Chapel, Windsor ; Datchet, which had been given to him in 1341 by St. Alban's Abbey ; Wyrardisbury with the chapel of Langley Marish, which had come to him from Gloucester Abbey ; and Iver. The canons of Windsor also obtained the church of North Marston by exchange, from the canons of Dunstable. All the churches newly appropriated during these two centuries had vicarages ordained at the same time ; the Bishop's own church at Wooburn had a perpetual vicar's portion assigned for the first time in 1337, but the vicarage of the prebendal church of Buckingham was not ordained till 1445.

A few parochial chapels for the use of hamlets remote from the parish church were built during the fourteenth century ; but some which are mentioned for the first time in the records of this period may well have been in existence earlier. Thus the chapel of Aston in Ivinghoe, re-endowed in 1340, had certainly been standing for some time ; the chapel of Dagnall in Edlesborough was probably at first a memorial chapel, built by Henry Spigurnel at the end of the thirteenth century ; the chapels of Ditton in Stoke Poges, Fulmer in Datchet, Weston Underwood in Olney, all mentioned early in the fourteenth century, were probably built some time before : it is uncertain whether the chapel of Colnbrook was built or re-built in 1345, and there is the

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Rh same doubt about the chapel of the Holy Trinity, Blessed Mary and All Souls in the churchyard of High Wycombe, re-endowed in 1358. A great many private or manorial chapels existed at this time ; but they have not the same interest as the parochial chapels, being mainly for the convenience of single households.

Most of the chantries were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; only two in Buckinghamshire can be proved to be of an earlier date, and it is doubtful whether the name, as we understand it, can be applied to these earlier foundations at all. They were indeed called ' cantariae ' ; but our English ' chantry ' is usually associated, at least in the popular mind, with a service intended primarily for the benefit of the faithful departed. There is, however, a clear instance to the contrary even as late as 1340, in the application made for the foundation of a chantry in the chapel of Aston in Ivinghoe. It was explained to the bishop that the chapel had no proper endowment, and that it was feared that divine service, there performed for the benefit of the hamlet generally, would have to cease : whereupon Ralf Halliwell had undertaken to found a chantry in it, for the sake of his own soul, and the souls of his father and mother. Even in the last year of Henry VIII. the Commissioners reported of this charity that it was ' right necessary,' and served for the needs of 240 ' houselling people,' who could not get to the parish church in winter time. The chantries in the chapels of Colnbrook and Dagnall were probably both founded for similar purposes, and others which were attached to parish churches, as at Newport Pagnel, Hanslope, and Olney, furnished the parish priest with an assistant whose services were much valued. Others again, such as those attached to the churches of Buckingham and Thornton, left provision for free schools, or for the relief of the poor. Besides these, there are of course some of which the main purpose really was to secure a regular commemoration of the founder's soul, like the three chantries founded by Sir John Molyns (who had perhaps some reason to be anxious about his prospects in the other world), and those in the church of Edlesborough, founded by John Crakhall (or Crachely), archdeacon of Bedford, and Thomas Butler.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/356


text: Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hart, Abraham


text:
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Rh Gilds were founded in this county at High Wycombe, Bucking- ham, Aylesbury, Fenny Stratford, Burnham, Olney, and Stony Strat- ford ; there were probably others of which no record is preserved. None of these were of great importance, and little is known of them except what is given in the Chantry certificates. From these it appears that they had as their object the relief of the poor and the maintenance of one or two chaplains to pray for the brethren living and dead. At Fenny Stratford and in Stony Stratford (St. Mary Magdalene) the brotherhood entirely maintained a chapel for the benefit of the hamlet in which it was built ; the gild at High Wycombe appears in the same way to have partly maintained the chapel of St. Mary called the ' charnell,' which stood in the churchyard. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries two parochial chapels, at Hedgerley and Wexham, became independent parish churches : four others, at Chesham Bois, Weston Underwood, Boarstall and Chearsley, by acquiring the right of burial became very nearly free of subjection to their mother churches sometimes, as in the case of Weston Under- wood, only after a long struggle with the rector. Within the same period, the shifting or decrease of population made it necessary to unite the two churches of Great and Little Loughton ; and somewhat later those of St. Mary and St. Nicholas at Saunderton ; the parish church

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Rh of Chetwode also fell into disuse and decay after it was made a chapel to the priory church at the appropriation in 1391.

A dispute in connexion with the church of Chesham in 1454 brings out an interesting point of mediaeval church custom. In days when travelling and social intercourse between different parts of the country were much less frequent than now, it would have been easy for simple village folk to lose sight of the greater unity of the Catholic Church, and the interdependence of its members ; and amongst the various customs devised to meet this difficulty was the solemn procession made every year to the mother church of the diocese somewhere about the feast of Pentecost. Like many other good things, this custom had its abuses : there were unseemly disputes for precedence between the men of different parishes even when they were gathered with their crosses and banners outside the cathedral ; and complaints were made of the difficulties of the journey. By the fifteenth century it had become usual for the parishioners of small parishes remote from the cathedral to make their yearly procession to some larger church in their own neighbourhood, more easy of access than the matrix ecclesia. So the parishioners of Chesham had been accustomed for some time to go to Amersham on the Monday in Whitsun week ; but even here there had been difficulties, leading to armed encounters between the two parishes, in which the men of Chesham had been worsted. They therefore sent in a petition to the bishop to allow them to make their procession around their own church in future, summoning the inhabitants of the hamlets of Chesham Bois and Latimer to join them. The petition was granted, on condition that they paid 16d. annually for the fabric of Lincoln Cathedral.

It has been shown already that the teaching of the Lollards had taken root in Buckinghamshire at the beginning of the fourteenth century ; but it was not until the episcopate of Bishop Chedworth (1452-1472) that its extent was seriously realized and steps taken to prevent its further spread. It appears from the Episcopal Registers that nearly all the cases of heresy which were tried before the bishop at this time came from the county of Buckingham, with a few from Thame and Henley and other places in the same district, that is to say, the valley of the Lower Thames. As at a later date, the bishop's manor house at Wooburn, and the parish church of High Wycombe, were usually chosen for the holding of these trials. The heretics of this period are of much interest, as they form a connecting link between the earlier Lollards and certain reformers of a later day. It seemed at first, in the time of Wiclif, as if there were some prospect of the spread of Lollard doctrines amongst the clergy and the upper classes ; but as the fifteenth century wore on, those accused of heresy were found almost exclusively in the lower classes, among weavers, coopers, smiths and

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Rh other craftsmen ; while their teachers were mostly laymen like them- selves, with no commission from the church, who wandered from place to place and mingled their teaching with the exercise of their ordinary trade. A few of the Buckinghamshire heretics of 1464 confessed to having learned their views from the rector of Chesham Bois a former rector in all probability, as he was not brought to trial at this time ; possibly even the same Richard Monk who abjured in 1428. But more of them had been instructed by one John Wyllis, who was examined before the bishop at Wooburn on 13 August 1462. This man had originally been a weaver of Bristol, and a disciple of a certain William Smith, burned after trial before the bishop of Worcester. Wyllis himself had taught in Bristol and London as well as in Lincoln diocese, and had already abjured, by his own confession, before the bishop of London. His condemnation therefore as a relapsed heretic was inevit- able ; but it is noteworthy that after his excommunication, when all hope was past, he again, it is stated, abjured his errors, and received absolution from the church that he might ' die a good Christian.' There are no signs at this time of anything like the formation of regular congregations such as Foxe speaks of as existing thirty or forty years later. It is well known indeed that the term ' Lollard ' or ' heretic ' was applied loosely to a great many people who agreed more in what they denied than in what they affirmed, and even here had often very little in common. The heresy of this period, like the Lollardy from which it was descended, was rather destructive than constructive ; it was in fact mainly revolt against ecclesiastical authority. Those who were examined before the bishop in 1464 confessed chiefly to a series of wild and self-contradictory criticisms of the Church, the sacraments, and the clergy. ' Bishops should go on foot, clothed in white, preaching to the people.' It was better to baptize children in a river or pond than in a church. It was enough for a man and woman to consent to live together ; the blessing of a priest could do them no good. Priests who are sinners cannot and ought not to preach. Singing, bell-ringing and the use of organs were to be blamed, not praised. Nearly all agreed in condemning all veneration of images or relics : most not only denied Transubstantiation but the Real Presence. One, a blacksmith of Henley, examined with the men of Wycombe, used language about the pope, the king, the sacraments, worthy of Bishop Bale ; he said baptism was only a token and a sign, and that he could make as good a sacrament as the priest ; and yet confessed that he had been wont to undertake the cure of children suffering from the ' chynkow ' by means of charms, involving the repetition of a great many paters and aves. Of greater interest is a list of English books, presumably of a heretical nature,

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Rh which one John Baron of Amersham confessed that he had in his pos- session : for it includes 'the second book of the Canterbury tales.'

It was in 1464, two years after the burning of Wyllis, that most of the examinations of heretics took place. Richard Benett of High Wycombe was the first to abjure his errors. On 4 June of this year in the parish church of High Wycombe seven men of the same town and one from Princes Risborough abjured ; on the next day another purged himself of the accusation of heresy by the oath of twenty fellow- townsmen. On 12 September, before the bishops of Lincoln and Exeter, in the same place, five men of Amersham and three of High Wycombe made their recantation ; on i October eleven more from High Wycombe, Turville, Great Marlow and Hughenden did the same, while one from Hambleden managed to purge himself, though 'vehementer suspicatus'. All of these were required to do penance by bearing faggots and wax candles in the parish church of High Wycombe and in the market place of Aylesbury.

Unfortunately the methods of the bishops at this time seem to have been, like those of the heretics, more negative than positive ; and the care they took to bring the erring to recantation and penance was not accompanied (so far as it is at present possible to judge) by any earnest effort to establish the faithful and confirm the wavering by a better and more intelligent teaching of the Catholic faith. The results were just what might have been foreseen. During the episcopate of Bishop Smith (14951514) there was found in Buckinghamshire a 'godly and great company ' of men and women who, though they were for the most part still in external communion with the Church, had lost faith in some of her most distinctive doctrines. What their actual numbers were we can only gather from the testimony of Foxe, as there is no allusion to the matter in the Memoranda of Bishop Smith's register, and it is evident that Foxe's sources of information were not in this case of a very reliable kind. He assures us that one man, William Tylsworth, was burned at Amersham in 1506, and that sixty other persons carried the faggot at the same time, amongst whom was Tylsworth's daughter, who was compelled to lay a faggot on her own father's fire. This he knew from the testimony of an old man and woman still living in his day, the latter indeed more than a hundred years of age. He also asserts, though not so positively, that one ' father Roberts ' (elsewhere called ' Dr. Cosin,' as being a teacher of the congregation), a miller of Missenden, suffered death at Buckingham about the same time, and that over twenty bore faggots at his burning. At Amersham again, about two years later, two men were burned in one fire and three others branded in the cheek, while about thirty more bore faggots. He adds that of the three who were branded one was afterwards burned, another

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Rh was so cruelly handled in the bishop's prison that he could never again go upright, and the third was alive in his own day and told the tale. Somewhere about the same time Thomas Chace, of Amersham, was imprisoned in the bishop's ' Little Ease ' at Wooburn, where a man could neither stand nor lie, and a woman who had something to do with the care of the prison testified that he was secretly strangled there and buried in a wood. This is the substance of Foxe's account. It is impossible to criticize it in detail, as there is no other record with which to compare or test it. We may also note his account ('gathered from Thomas Kirby, of Stratford-Langthorn ') of Thomas Man, burned at Smithfield in 1518, an itinerant lay preacher, who had taught, chiefly at Amersham, for twenty-three years, and boasted that he had ' turned seven hundred people to his religion.' This man, with three others already noted (Tylsworth, Cosin, and Chace) were the chief instructors of the Buckinghamshire congregation. There can, indeed, be no reasonable doubt that the heretics of this county were very numerous, and that the year 1506 was afterwards known in the neigh- bourhood as the year of the ' great abjuration ' ; it is also not improb- able that they did form something like a regular congregation, with private meetings for religious exercises. But it is also quite obvious that they were in no true sense the spiritual ancestry of the reformed Church, but, like the Lollards who went before them, and some of the sectaries who succeeded them in this same district, were among those who were inclined to dispute the necessity of having any visible Church at all. Their teachers, by Foxe's own account, were unlettered laymen, and their teachings were all based upon the exercise of ' private judgment' carried to its most extreme conclusions. It is not surprising to find, in the records of the general visitation of the diocese ordered by Bishop Atwater in 1519, a very unsatisfactory account of the state of this archdeaconry. The history of Buckingham- shire is, indeed, from the point of view of the Church, a melancholy one, both during this century and the next. There could scarcely have been any part of the country where the churches were so forlorn and ill-kept : various reasons may be given for this, but the facts are beyond doubt, and may in a great measure account for the prevalence of heretical opinion. Pluralist as he was, Bishop Atwater yet found leisure to realize the needs of the diocese of Lincoln, and set himself to reform both the churches and the religious houses which were com- mitted to his care, and the records of his visitation are unusually full and complete. An account is given of 150 churches in the arch-

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Rh deaconry of Buckingham, and of these only twenty-two are returned walls, porch or bell-tower, that is to say, by default of the parishioners ; while twice as many needed repair to the chancel, showing neglect on the part of the rector. Quite thirty of the rectors were non-resident, and their rectory-houses consequently in ruins ; about half a dozen had not sufficient books or vestments. The font was often not properly covered ; but the most conspicuous neglect was shown in the careless keeping of the churchyards, 45 of which were insufficiently enclosed, and constantly desecrated by cattle which came in to pasture there. Cases of immorality reported among the people were not very numerous, but seven among the incumbents of churches were accused of having women of doubtful character to keep house for them. In four or five cases it was complained that people talked and gossiped in church during the time of divine service. It seems to have been a case of ' as with the people, so with the priest.' The churches appropriate to religious houses were not at this time any better served than those under lay patronage : of several of these it was reported that there was no distri- bution of alms to the poor, and the abbey of Nutley in this county was sadly conspicuous for its neglect of the churches under its care, Ashen- don and Chetwode being in a ruinous condition, Hillesden and Dorton devoid of chaplains altogether few specially bad cases may be given in detail. The church of Ellesborough, appropriate to Sandwell Priory, was altogether in decay, so that the divine offices, when said at all, were said in a ruin. The rectory house was quite fallen down, owing to the non-residence of the rector, who neither served the church himself nor provided any honest vicar to take his place, so that for the most part there were no services at all. And the prior of Sandwell, while he allowed this state of things to go on, drew every year 10 marks from the parish and exacted four quarters of wheat besides. At Marsworth, appropriate to Caldwell Priory, both chancel and church were in decay ; there was no distribution of alms to the poor ; the vicar was very old and had women in his house. At Hardwick the rector was ' not peace- ful but litigious ' ; he had struck one of his parishioners and torn his clothes, and drawn his sword upon another ; he was not regular in reciting the evening offices and allowed his chancel and rectory to remain in a ruinous condition. At Hawridge the rector was non-resident, and left his cure to be served by a most unfit person, who thought more of sport than of the duties of his office he lived out of his parish, at Chesham, and even in the Holy Week sometimes said the whole office
 * Omnia bene.' Of the remainder about fifteen were in need of repair in

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text: Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hart, Charles Henry


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Rh of the day, including compline, early in the morning to suit his own convenience, so that the parishioners could not attend. At Worming- hall, appropriate to the monastery of St. Frideswide, the chancel and vicarage house were ruinous ; the vicar was accused of immorality, of not celebrating the divine offices at the accustomed times, of deliberately pasturing his own cattle in the churchyard, of allowing the sacred vest- ments of the church to be damaged, and of carrying off for his own use the candles offered by the parishioners before the images in the church.

It is a doleful catalogue ; but the visitation is of great interest, showing not only how much reform was needed, but what real efforts after reform were actually being made within the church quite early in the sixteenth century. It is also a point of interest that these particular efforts were by no means without effect. Some bad cases were dealt with at once ; it is noted even in the course of the report that the chaplain of Hawridge was suspended by the bishop, and the rector ordered to reside ; and in a similar visitation of Bishop Longland's by far the greater number of those churches which had been in an unsatis- factory state in 1519 were returned in 1530 ' Omnia bene.'

Bishop Longland has a most unenviable reputation as a persecutor of the righteous ; but it has only been lately realized that his dealings with heretics formed only a part of the general energetic work of reform which he carried out through the diocese of Lincoln. Of his personal character, of the use he made of his great opportunity as confessor to the king, nothing need be said here ; but there is abundance of testi- mony, both from his letters among the State Papers and his own episcopal records, that he was really diligent in the supervision of his vast diocese, and that often under the pressure of ill-health as well as affairs of state. He plainly realized that if a permanent reform was to be effected it was not enough to extirpate heresy : the whole level of church life must be raised, beginning with the clergy and the religious.

On 20 October, 1521, a proclamation was issued by King Henry VIII. requiring mayors, sheriffs and other officials to assist the new bishop of Lincoln in dealing with the large numbers of heretics known to exist in his diocese ; and it was again found that special attention must be directed to the county of Buckingham. Inquiry would naturally be made concerning those who had recanted in 1506 ; and it was found indeed that some of them had relapsed or grown lax in performing penances'then imposed upon them. There was another 'great abjura- tion,' the numbers of those who recanted amounting to about fifty ; the penances imposed being much the same as those commonly assigned

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Rh to other serious offences, namely, pilgrimage to various local or more distant shrines, or a term of residence in some religious house except that in most cases the delinquents were required to wear a faggot em- broidered on the sleeve for life. Foxe also asserts that as many as six persons, five men and one woman, were burned at this time.

It is most unfortunate that we have no means at present of checking the numbers or other details given by Foxe for the year 1521, and can therefore only give his account as it stands. The persons he names are, as before, all from the lower classes, with the exception of the vicar of Little Missenden and a priest of Horton-by-Colnbrook : he includes also a canon from the abbey of Missenden. The places they come from are very numerous, and show how the new doctrines had spread through the southern part of the county. Amersham was conspicuous as before, while Great Marlow, West Wycombe, High Wycombe, Chesham, Denham, Hughenden, Chalvey, Wooburn, Beaconsfield, Iver, Dorney also appear on the list. Again, under the year 1530, he names four persons brought to trial from Princes Risborough, and a little later ten more, from West Wycombe, Coleshill and Chesham.

The case of Thomas Harding given by Foxe is a typical one. Harding had abjured in 1506 at Amersham, where he was then living, and had been put to penance, which he continued to perform for about ten years. In 1521 he was found guilty of intercourse with other heretics and condemned to wear the faggot on his sleeve. In 1532 he was brought before Bishop Longland at the Old Temple, London (not at Wooburn, as Foxe says ), described as Thomas Harding of Chesham, late of Amersham, a relapsed heretic. This was on 6 April ; and on 29 May he was again examined in the parish church of Chesham before John Rayne, the bishop's vicar-general, the abbot of Thame, and the rector of Ashridge, with the result that he was, under the existing law of the church, excommunicated and handed over to the secular arm to be burned. The bishop's register, from which these dates are taken, gives however one detail which Foxe omits, namely, that Harding, after his condemnation, asked and received absolution from the Church for his errors, to the great joy of his judges.

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Rh In spite, however, of the undercurrent of heresy and the low standard of life and duty amongst the clergy in the county, there is evidence enough that the shrines of the saints and other centres of popular devotion were still frequented by worshippers. It was one of the special objects of the gild at Buckingham to do honour to the relics of St. Rumwald, whose shrine stood in the parish church, with a lamp burning before it night and day : and another favourite place of pilgrimage was the monastery of Ashridge, where a phial was trea- sured, containing a few drops of what was believed to be the Precious Bloodobtained at the same time and from the same source as the more famous relic at Hailes. We hear of the rood of Wendover, and of images of Our Lady at Missenden, at Bradwell, at High Wycombe, to which frequent resort was made. The little chapel of Blessed Mary at Caversham, just over the border in Oxfordshire, but served by canons of Nutley Abbey in this county, was quite a storehouse of relics, for there might be seen the holy halter wherewith Judas was hanged (perhaps we may be permitted to wonder how it could ever convey a blessing to any one), the dagger that killed King Henry VI., the knife that slew King Edward the Martyr so many centuries before, and the image of ' an aungell with oon wyng that browght to Caversham the spere hedde that percyd our Saviour is syde upon the crosse ' ; besides an image of our Lady plated with silver, draped, after the manner of the time, with costly robes. Dr. London, who may in this respect be looked upon as an unprejudiced witness, testifies that there was great pilgrimage to this chapel, and that even during the few hours of his stay there came in more than a dozen people bringing offerings. From the same source we hear of the pilgrimage made to the image of Sir John Schorne in North Marston church, where he stood ' blessing a bote, whereunto they do say he conveyd the devill.' Lights, shrouds, crutches and images of wax hung about these shrines, just as they may be seen in continental churches of to-day.

It is probable that only the more celebrated (and more valuable) of the images were removed by London ; he only spoke of removing the ' botyd ymage ' from North Marston and of having ' thoroughly

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Rh defaced' the chapel of Caversham; others disappeared at the dissolution of the monasteries where they were kept ; but the general order for the removal of all images whatsoever was not issued till the second year of King Edward the Sixth.

The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 is another landmark in the history of the Church. Most of the changes it records in Buckinghamshire since 1291 (e.g. the loss and gain of a few parish churches and chapels) have been noticed as they occurred. The stipends of the lesser clergy were still very small for the most part ; more than sixty benefices were of less than £10 value, more than fifty were between £10 and £15 ; while the average stipend of a curate or chantry priest seems to have been £5 or £6

It does not appear that there was any special disturbance in this county on account of the Supremacy Act or the fall of the monasteries. In February 1538 one Thomas Bright of Boarstall was executed for high treason at Aylesbury for words spoken against the king ; and in the same year a priest, Sir John Man of Westbury, was accused of ' knavish sayings ' and ' lewd living ' ; both these cases may be connected with the troubles of the time, but they are not matters of much consequence. So also in this county, at Bockmore near Medmenham, dangerous words were spoken by Lord Montague and his chaplain, John Colyns, about the dissolution of the monasteries and the king's conduct generally ; but they were said privately and could have made no stir in theneigb)- bourhood, though they were thought sufficient evidence to support a charge of verbal treason. The vicar of Medmenham, to whom Colyns entrusted some of his papers, with instructions to burn them if he were apprehended, may not even have known what was in the coffer, and his sympathy with the cause of the Pole family was not enough to bring him under suspicion.

One more case of heresy, not mentioned by Foxe, was brought before the bishop in the parish church of Little Missenden in Novem- ber 1535 a tailor called Ralph Clerk, who denied the Real Presence. He was accused of having spoken profane and heretical words after a sermon in which the bishop had been setting forth reasons to prove the ordinary doctrine of the Church as to the Blessed Sacrament ; and this

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Rh event seems to show that Longland was still trying to check the spread of heresy by definite teaching. An Act Book of his dated 1544, though a mere fragment, is of great interest, as it shows the working of the later legislation of the reign of Henry VIII. , and in particular the effects of the ' Bishop's Book ' and ' King's Book' of 1536 and 1544 those last efforts to secure a reformation of life and practice amongst clergy and people without change of doctrine. It may be worth while to give some details from this book, as original records of these few years are not common.

It appears that in 1544 an inquiry was made or at least begun in the diocese of Lincoln, with the intention of finding out whether the clergy really were instructing their people in accordance with the royal injunctions of 1536, and on the lines laid down by the ' Institution of a Christian Man ' issued a year later. In the archdeaconry of Bucking- ham, the curate of Horton was excommunicated for neglect of his cure, in that he had not registered the names of children brought to him for baptism, nor yet explained to his parishioners the Creed, Our Father and Hail Mary. His rectory-house was noticed to be in great ruin. After confession of his fault and promise of amendment, he was absolved. The rector of Leckhampstead, the vicar of Dorney and the curate of Wyrardisbury were similarly dealt with, for similar reasons. The vicar of Upton, being called to account, confessed that he had not taught his flock ' the book of the Articles of Convocation ' and did not even know what was in it ; but as he had made some efforts to instruct his parish- ioners in the Creed and the Ten Commandments he was dismissed with a warning. The rector of Farnham Royal had failed to read the royal injunctions, though he had done the rest of his duty.

In the same book there are a few cases of church discipline enforced upon the laity, some for moral offences, and some for acts which very nearly brought them under the charge of heresy. A tailor of Colnbrook, examined in the parochial chapel, confessed that he had eaten fish, and caused others to do the like, on one of the Ember days, ' against the laudable custom of the Church of England ' ; that he had read the English Bible belonging to Horton church, for the edification of him- self and others, in such a loud voice that the curate, after vainly trying to get him to be quieter, had sent him about his business ; and that he had in his possession certain evil and corrupt books. He was

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Rh publicly excommunicated, and absolved after penance. One of his friends was dismissed with a warning.

What effect this course of procedure might have had if steadily continued for some years it is impossible to say ; for the king's death early in 1547 let loose upon the country reformers of a very different type. For the first important measure of the new reign, viz., the suppression of the chantries, Henry VIII. was however entirely responsible. It was not without good reason that fears had been expressed at the time of the dissolution of monasteries that the king would not stop there ; that his heavy hand would fall next upon the parish churches. The suppression of the chantries, colleges, gilds and hospitals was ostensibly a part of the effort to correct popular notions as to the state of the faithful departed, and to check superstitious practices connected with these ideas ; but it had really quite another effect. This may best be seen by a simple summary of the results of the Act in one county. In Buckinghamshire it disendowed and destroyed only three chapels which had clearly no other use except to perpetuate chantries in the later and narrower sense of the word : at Eythrope, Ditton and Buckingham. But with these it swept away four others which were strictly parochial, and served for the devotion of good-sized hamlets, where even the able-bodied inhabitants could seldom in winter get to the parish church ; and it also deprived eleven churches of an assistant priest whose services had cost the incumbent nothing, as well as of the plate and ornaments assigned to the use of the particular altar where the chantry was endowed ; while almost every parish in the county lost some small endowment for lamps and obits, bequeathed by those who could not afford to found a perpetual chantry. The commissioners who furnished materials for the first certificate

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Rh testified to the usefulness and even necessity of the chantry priests in all the chapels except Ditton, Eythrope and Buckingham, and in ten out of the eleven churches ; while the second certificate, drawn up in the first year of Edward VI., notices in three or four cases that the priests were ' of honest understanding' or 'well learned,' and has nothing worse to say of any except that he was non-resident. The two hospitals of Newport Pagnel and High Wycombe were however no longer serving their original purpose. Three or four chantries involved distributions of alms to the poor, but only two, Ivinghoe Aston and Thornton, had schools attached. The school at Thornton was re-endowed in July 1548 with the same stipend as before for the schoolmaster ; and this was the only compensation which the county then received for its losses at this time or earlier. Later on, a hospital was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1597 at Buckingham, probably out of the revenues of church lands ; and the hospital of Newport Pagnel was rebuilt and re-endowed by James I. and his queen. It is only fair to add that the chantry priests usually received pensions ; and the inquiry set on foot by Queen Mary in the first year of her reign does not seem to suggest that these were not regularly paid, but only that they were scanty and insufficient.

The second year of King Edward VI. saw the removal of all remaining images from the parish churches ; but it is probable that at this time the parishioners were allowed to make what profit they could out of the gold and other valuable materials with which the images were decked ; it was not confiscated to the king's use. Some extant churchwardens' accounts of this period show the changes that took place year by year and the expenses connected with them ; new books to buy, and workmen to pay for the removing of the roods, the taking down of altars, the setting up of tables, and the ' white liming ' of church walls. Last came the order for the confiscation of the vest- ments and of nearly all the remaining ornaments of the churches. The inventories of Church Goods for the county of Buckingham are very numerous ; they show us the ornaments existing in nearly a hundred churches at the end of the reign of Edward VI. The lists vary con- siderably ; they show most churches still in possession of the Eucharistic

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Rh vestments prescribed until 1552 by the Book of Common Prayer, and that quite a majority still had a cross, candlesticks and censers. Amongst those which were richest may be named the parish churches of Buck- ingham, High Wycombe, Chalfont St. Peter, Chesham, Horton, Upton, Langley, Cheddington, Drayton Beauchamp, Whitchurch, Wing, Linslade, Great Missenden ; whilst Mursley, Great Horwood, Hog- geston, Ivinghoe, Bradenham and Drayton Parslow were among the poorest. Some few relics there were of earlier daysLenten veils, canopy cloths for the pyx, candlesticks with many branches or a stand for the rood light ; but it is astonishing to see how rapid had been the disappearance of ornaments only recently laid aside the pyx, the pax, the holy water stoup. Some sales are noticed, as at Buckingham, North Marston and Hambleden ; but it is to be feared that some of the dis- used church ornaments had passed into the hands of those who had no legal right to them.

No general conclusions can be safely drawn from these lists as to the common custom of the two or three years preceding. The impres- sion produced by reading them is that there had been great diversity of use, and a state of things not unlike the time when there were no judges in Israel. At the two extremes may be placed the churches of Hitcham and Edlesborough : both of these have well-preserved inventories, and the order of the items is worth noting in both. At Hitcham the list is severely simple :

Imprimis, two Bibles Item, one chalice of silver with the paten Item, two surplices. </poem

There is absolutely nothing else. At Edlesborough the first item is 'Imprimis a pyx of latten that the sacrament lieth in'; and then follows a complete list of all such things as had once been thought necessary in every church for the reverent celebration of the holy mysteries, including ' a canopy with three crosses of latten that hangeth on the sacrament.' It is clear then that in one case at least the Blessed Sacrament was suspended above the altar as in former days, and, we may surely assume, surrounded by a stately and appropriate ceremonial ; while there were also churches (certainly two, Hoggeston and Hitcham) where the use of vestments had been abandoned even before the publi- cation of the Second Prayer Book they had in fact got rid of their vestments altogether, and had none to use

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text: Stevenson v. Pemberton

title: Stevenson v. Pemberton


text: Ashton’s Lessee v. Ashton

title: Ashton’s Lessee v. Ashton


text: Hewes’s Lessee v. McDowell

title: Hewes’s Lessee v. McDowell


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216 party spoke of Wolsey, whom he called 'a stubborn and churlish prelate, and one that never could abide any nobleman;' 'and that,' he added, 'you know well enough, my Lord Cromwell, for he was your master.' Cromwell answered that it was true that he had been Wolsey's servant, nor did he regret his fortune. 'Yet was I never so far in love with him,' he said, 'as to have waited upon him to Rome, which you, my lord, were, I believe, prepared to have done.' It was not true, the first speaker said. Cromwell again insisted that it was true, and even mentioned the number of florins which were to have been paid him for his services. The other said 'he lied in his teeth, and great and high words rose between them.'

The King's peace-making prospered little. The impetus of a great victory was not to be arrested by mild persuasions. A commission was appointed by the Catholic leaders to reap the desired fruits. Such of the London citizens as had most distinguished themselves as opponents of reformation in all its forms—those especially who had resisted the introduction of the Bible—formed a court, which held its sittings in the Mercers' Chapel. They 'developed the statute' in what were termed 'branches of inference;' they interpreted 'speaking against masses' to comprehend 'coming seldom to mass.' Those who were slow in holding up their hands 'at sacring time,' or who did not strike their breasts with adequate fervour, were held to have denied the


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1539.] sacrament. In the worst temper of the Inquisition they revived the crippled functions of the spiritual courts: they began to inquire again into private conduct—who went seldom to church—who refused to receive holy bread or holy water who were frequent readers of the Bible, 'with a great many other such branches.' 'They so sped with their branches' that in a fortnight they had indicted five hundred persons in London alone. In their imprudent fanaticism they forgot all necessary discretion. There was not a man of note or reputation in the City who had so much as spoken a word against Rome, but was under suspicion, or under actual arrest. Latimer and Shaxton were imprisoned, and driven to resign their bishoprics. Where witnesses were not to be found, Hall tells us significantly, 'that certain of the clergy would procure some, or else they were slandered.' The fury which had been pent up for years, revenge for lost powers and privileges, for humiliations and sufferings, remorse of conscience reproaching them for their perjury in abjuring the Pope, whom they still reverenced, and to whose feet they longed to return, poured out from the reactionary churchmen in a concentrated lava stream of malignity.


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218 The blindness of their rage defeated their object. The King had not desired articles of peace that worthless bigots might blacken the skies of England with the smoke of martyr- fires. The powers given to the Crown by the Act of Proclamations recoiled on those who bestowed them, and by a summary declaration of pardon the bishops' dungeon doors were thrown open; the prisoners were dismissed; and though Cromwell had seemed to yield to them in the House of Lords, their victims, they discovered, would not be permitted to be sacrificed so long as Cromwell was in power.

Not contented with granting an indemnity, Henry set the persecutors an example of the spirit in which to enforce the Six Articles. Next to Barnes and Latimer, the most obnoxious of all the reforming clergy, in high orthodox quarters, was Jerome, Vicar of Stepney. While the Parliament was in session this person preached in violent denunciation of their proceedings. He denied their authority to make laws to bind the conscience. He had used 'opprobrious words' against the members of the House of Commons, calling them 'butterflies, fools, and knaves;' and when the Act of Opinions was passed, he was seized by the committee at the Mercers'. We need not ask how he would have been dealt with there; but Henry took the cause out of their hands. He sent for the preacher, and as Jerome reported afterwards, 'so indifferently heard him, so gently used him, so mercifully forgave him, that there was never poor man


text: King v. Lukens

title: King v. Lukens


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1539.] received like gentleness at any prince's hand.' The preacher consented to revoke his words in the place where he had used them; and appearing again in the same pulpit, he confessed that he had spoken wrongly. The King had shown him that to restrain the power of the Government within the limits which he desired, would create confusion in the commonwealth, and that his declamation against the burgesses had been ill and slanderously spoken. He recanted, also, other parts of his sermon on questions of doctrine; but he added an explanation of his submission characteristic of the man and of the time. 'He was perplexed,' he said, 'but not confounded;' 'he was compelled to deny himself; but to deny himself was no more but when adversity should come, as loss of goods, infamies, and like trouble, to deny his own will, and call upon the Lord, saying, Fiat voluntas tua.' Catholics and Protestants combined to render the King's task of ruling them as arduous as it could be made.

The bill, nevertheless, though it might be softened in the execution, was a hard blow on the Reformation, and was bitterly taken. Good came at last out of the evil. The excesses of the moving party required absolutely to be checked; nor could this necessary result be obtained till the bishops for a time had their way uncontrolled; but the dismissal of Latimer from the bench, the loss of the one man in England whose conduct was, perhaps, absolutely straightforward,


text: Nixon v. Long

title: Nixon v. Long


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220, and untainted with alloy of baser matter, was altogether irreparable.

We approach another subject of scarcely less importance than this famous statute, and scarcely less stern. Before we enter upon it we may pause for a moment over one of the few scenes of a softer kind which remain among the records of this iron age. It is but a single picture. Richard Cromwell, writing from the Court of some unimportant business which the King had transacted, closes his letter with adding: 'This done, his Grace went to the prince, and there hath solaced all the day with much mirth and with dallying with him in his arms a long space, and so holding him in a window to the sight and great comfort of all the people.' A saying is recorded of Henry: 'Happy those who never saw a king, and whom a king never saw.' It is something, though it be but for once, to be admitted behind the shows of royalty, and to know that he, too, the queller of the Pope, the terror of conspirators, the dread lord who was the pilot of England in the sharpest convulsion which as yet had tried her substance, was nevertheless a man like the rest of us, with a human heart and human tenderness.

But to go on with our story.

The English criminal law was in its letter one of the most severe in Europe: in execution it was the most uncertain and irregular. There were no colonies to draw off the criminals, no galley system, as in


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1539.] France and Spain, to absorb them in penal servitude; the country would have laughed to scorn the proposal that it should tax itself to maintain able-bodied men in unemployed imprisonment; and, in the absence of graduated punishments, there was but one step to the gallows from the lash and the branding-iron. But, as ever happens, the extreme character of the penalties for crime prevented the enforcement of them; and benefit of clergy on the one hand, and privilege of sanctuary on the other, reduced to a fraction the already small number of offenders whom juries could be found to convict. In earlier ages the terrors of the Church supplied the place of secular retribution, and excommunication was scarcely looked upon as preferable even to death. But in the corrupt period which preceded the Reformation the consequences were the worst that can be conceived. Spasmodic intervals of extraordinary severity, when twenty thieves, as Sir Thomas More says, might be seen hanging on a single gibbet, were followed by periods when justice was, perhaps, scarcely executed at all.


text: Fothergill’s Lessee v. Stover

title: Fothergill’s Lessee v. Stover


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222 The State endeavoured to maintain its authority against the immunities of the Church by increasing the the truth. The entire number of victims destroyed by Alva in the same provinces by the stake, by the gallows, and by wholesale massacre, amount, when counted carefully in detail, to twenty thousand only. The persecutions under Charles, in a serious form, were confined to the closing years of his reign. Can we believe that wholesale butcheries were passed by comparatively unnoticed by any one at the time of their perpetration, more than doubling the atrocities which startled subsequently the whole world? Laxity of assertion in matters of number is so habitual as to have lost the character of falsehood. Men not remarkably inaccurate will speak of thousands, and, when cross-questioned, will rapidly reduce them to hundreds, while a single cipher inserted by a printer's mistake becomes at once a tenfold exaggeration. Popular impressions on the character of the reign of Henry VIII. have, however, prevented inquiry into any statement which reflects discredit upon this; the enormity of an accusation has passed for an evidence of its truth. Notwithstanding that until the few last years of the King's life no felon who could read was within the grasp of the law, notwithstanding that sanctuaries ceased finally to protect murderers six years only before his death, and that felons of a lighter cast might use their shelter to the last,—even these considerable facts have created no misgiving, and learned and ignorant historians alike have repeated the story of the 72,000 with equal confidence.I must be permitted to mention the evidence, the single evidence, on which it rests.The first English witness is Harrison, the author of the Description of Britain prefixed to Chronicle. Harrison, speaking of the manner in which thieves had multiplied in England from laxity of discipline, looks back with a sigh to the golden days of King Hal, and adds, 'It appeareth by Cardan, who writeth it upon report of the Bishop of Lisieux, in the geniture of King Edward the Sixth, that his father, executing his laws very severely against great thieves, petty thieves, and rogues, did hang up three-score and twelve thousand of them.'Referring to the Commentaries of Jerome Cardan, p. 412, I find a calculation of the horoscope of Edward VI., containing, of course, the marvellous legend of his birth, and after it this passage—'Having spoken of the son, we will add also the scheme of his father, wherein we chiefly observe three points. He married six wives; he divorced two; he put two to death. Venus being in conjunction


text: Wallace v. Child

title: Wallace v. Child