state a fancy of my own in confirmation of this history of the doorway, which is, that on either side of the hood moulding at the termination, I think I recognize the figure of a king and queen's head; and if this be the intended representation, it is no great stretch of imagination to suppose that they may be meant for King Stephen and Queen Matilda.

But the question forces itself upon us, why should the church of Witham, with its chapel of Cressing, have been given to the college of St. Martin's ? and why should the manor of Witham and the manor of Cressing have been granted as they were at the same time to the Knight Templars ? Both questions admit of a ready answer.

With regard to the Knight Templars, for some years the interest of every nation in Europe had been absorbed by the thought of rescuing the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem from the hands of the infidels. The heroic deeds of valour performed by the crusaders were upon the lips of every one, and the scene of their chivalry came home to every heart. Monks had left their cloisters, and peasants had obtained freedom from their oppressive serfdom to join in the religious crusade. It is sad to know that the enthusiastic rabble, traversing hostile countries, thousands after thousands met with destruction before they reached the scene of their expected struggle, that the flower of the nobles had perished before success crowned the efforts of the first crusaders. Two bodies of men had in those days formed themselves into religious communities to aid in the holy enterprize, the Knights Hospitallers of St. John and the Knights Templars. Confining ourselves to the latter, they had their name from the Temple of Jerusalem, where first they had a dwelling assigned to them in order that they might the readier perform their solemn vow to which they had devoted their life and all: which was to succour and defend the helpless pilgrims in their perilous journey to the Holy Sepulchre. Eustace Count of Boulogne, the father of Stephen's Queen, had been one of the foremost in joining the expedition; Stephen's uncle, Robert Duke of Normandy, had won renown by his noble deeds on the holy ground. This was, therefore, one of the first objects to which Stephen and Matilda would wish to devote some portion of their large possessions. An English branch of these religious knights had been but recently estab lished in London, in Holborn, long before they moved to their more agreeable residence on the banks of the Thames, which now bears their name; and here was certainly a brotherhood to attract the sym

pathy and religious feelings of the age: in whose behalf Stephen might be well inclined to perform what would be deemed a meritorious act. Conscious of having usurped the crown of England, and learning, first in the dangers of civil war, and afterwards within a prison wall, something of his own wicked course, he would probably seek on his deliverance from captivity, to expiate, by deeds of mercy, his past transgressions. His gentle and devoted queen would doubtless second all these wishes. They had in better and less guilty days, before they came to the throne, founded Furness Abbey, in Yorkshire; his wife had founded St. Mary's church, at Southampton, and St. Catherine's, near the tower, where now are seen the docks of that name, in memory of the children whom they lost in infancy. And now what could he do better than give the Hun. dred of Witham and the manor of Witham and Cressing, to those who were connected in all men's thoughts with the Saviour's name and His suffering people?

Nor is it difficult to connect St. Martin's college with the religious feelings of Stephen and Matilda. When they married in early life, Stephen was a favourite in the court of king Henry, and the royal gift to them on their marriage was the palace of Tower Royal, a palace of which not only every vestige but even the name has within the last few years perished.

Before, however, recent improvements had taken place in the City, you might have passed through a narrow street leading from Watling Street into Cheapside, and which was called Tower Royal Street; on the right of this street or lane formerly stood the royal palace of which we are speaking, where the young prince and his amiable wife kept open house, and where their popular manners made the Earl and Countess of Boulogne great favourites with the Londoners, a circumstance which turned to their advantage on more than one occasion during the trials of their after life. But while they were living here they would necessarily (especially with the influence of such a wife) frequent the services of the church at St. Martin's College; the parish churches were not generally built, and St. Martin's had particular attractions, not only as being near to the palace of Tower Royal, but also as having been founded by one of their own family. St. Martin's was not a monastery but a college, the inmates not being bound by monastic vows, but ready to perform the services of religion whenever they were needed; and it is possible that by committing the endowment of Witham to the college of St. Martin's, the founder may have hoped that the

brethren there would provide better for the people of Witham than the lords of the manor had done when they received the church revenues for themselves. St. Martin's was originally founded in the time of Edward the Confessor by the cousins of that king, Ingalricus and Edward; it was an ecclesiastical foundation for a dean and secular canons, and called Le Grand, from the extraordinary privileges of refuge and sanctuary which were granted to this liberty by divers monarchs. I suppose that at this time St. Martin's was a place of great consideration. I am sorry to say that it did not always remain so. Its great privileges had been bestowed upon it by its founder, by William the Conqueror, and by successive kings; it was subject to no visitation; its revenues were liable to no tax; its inmates, wherever they were, and whatever crime they committed, were subject to trial at no other courts of justice than their own. The consequence was, that it became a sanctuary for ruffians and thieves of every description. A law was made in Henry the VI.'s reign to regulate in some degree the inordinate abuses of this sanctuary, and its provisions inform us who were the usual residents of this privileged spot.

"Item 6. If any person having tuition of the said sanctuary from thence issue out by day or by night, and commit or do any robbery, murder, treason, felony or battery so done (withouten forth), commit the same murderer to ward there, to remain as long as he will abide in the sanctuary; and if so be he will depart from thence, he shall depart at an hour to be assigned to him by day betwixt sun and sun.

"Item 7. That subtle pickers of locks, counterfeiters of keys, contrivers of seals, forgers of false evidence, workers of counterfeit chaines, beads, brouches, ouches rings, cups, spoons silvered, and plates of copper gilt uttered for gold, unto the common hurt of the people, be not suffered in the said sanctuary, and if any living within the said be holden suspect of the things above said, let him be committed to ward till he find sufficient security."

It is a curious circumstance that, after the college had been dissolved, and its revenues handed over to the Abbey of Westminster, there was still a question raised whether the Sheriff of London had a right to claim a prisoner who had taken refuge within the liberty; and on the question between the Crown and the Dean of Westminster being referred to lawyers of eminence, by way of arbitration, in Queen Elizabeth's time, the point was determined in favour of the rights of sanctuary; and what is somewhat singular, the person to whom

the matter was referred in Chambers, was no other than Mr. Justice Southcot, who afterwards lived at Witham Place, who was buried in Witham church, and whose recumbent figure in alabaster we have all noticed near the organ. In short, I hope it is no want of respect for a vicar of Witham, when speaking of the ancient patrons of the living, to say that he feels no regret that a more useful building now occupies the site of the former college, and that St. Martin's-le-Grand is more happily known in our days by the labours of Rowland Hill and the blessings of a penny postage.

But I must not tax your patience any further this evening; and as I would rather that you should have something worth remembering before you go, I will read, as my conclusion, the following lines of our Poet Wordsworth, describing the ever-changing but still slow progress of civilization :

So fails, so languishes, grows dim, and dies

All that this world is proud of. From their spheres
The stars of human glory are cast down,
Perish the roses and the flowers of Kings,
Princes, and Emperors, and the crowns and palms
Of all the mighty withered and consumed!
Nor is the power giv'n to lowliest innocence
Long to protect her own: the man himself
Departs; and soon is spent the line of those
Who in the bodily image, in the mind,
In heart or soul, in station or pursuit
Did most resemble him. Degrees and ranks,
Fraternities and orders, heaping high
New wealth upon the burden of the old,
And placing trust in privilege confirmed,
And reconfirmed, are scoffed at with a smile
Of greedy foretaste, from the secret stand
Of desolation aimed. To slow decay
These yield, and these to sudden overthrow:
Their virtue, service, happiness, and state
Expire; and Nature's pleasant robe of green,
Humanity's appointed shroud, enwraps

Their monuments and their memory. The vast frame
Of social nature changes evermore
Her organs, and her members with decay
Restless, and restless generation, powers
And functions dying and produced at need-
And by this law the mighty whole subsists
With an ascent and progress in the main,
Yet, oh, how disproportioned to the hopes
And expectations of self-flattering minds.

SECOND LECTURE.

I must call your attention to the period of English history at which we were considering the state of Witham in the last lecture, the reign of King Stephen. The church of St. Nicolas, with the chapel of Cressing, had been given to the college of St. Martin's-le-Grand, and the dean and brethren were bound from that time to provide for the religious services. The manors of the parish were none of them inhabited by their owners, but only by persons who held of the respective lord, which will account for our having no vestiges or even tradition of any noble buildings at Blunts, Hobbrege, or Little Witham; for the same reason we have no buildings to attest the importance of the manor of Witham, although perhaps inferior to few manors of the country, for this manor having been given to the Knight Templars in London, it was at first held by some agent to manage and cultivate in their behalf, and as soon as they erected their priory at Cressing Temple they placed there some of their own brethren to farm the lands in Witham for them. It must have been during Stephen's reign also that a portion of the manor of Witham was separated to constitute an exclusive manor connected with the church and its services so that from that time to the present, the vicar of Witham has been the lord of a manor, of no very high sounding title, nor one which would make bishops or deans envious of his dignity. Indeed it is not easy to ascertain from what cause the clerical manor obtained its name: it may have been from some accidental nickname by which the first occupier of the manor was known (for people were not nice in those days as to the terms in which they spoke of an unpopular priest); or, what is perhaps more likely, the ground now occupied by houses on the west side of Church-street may then have been the customary spot where the lord of Witham used to keep his hogs at such times as there was no food to be found for them in the adjoining wood. I had already occasion to state in the former lecture that there were kept on the manor of Witham, at the time of Domesday survey, as many as 286 pigs. It is true they were fatted by the acorns of the wood; but at many seasons of the year it must have been necessary to find for them food and feeding places; and if the site of Church-street were once so used, and then constituted

;