your consolatory Dedication, for the abundant illustration and apposite erudition displayed throughout the whole of your book,

I am your much obliged

and ever affectionate Friend,

G. J. GLOUCester.

Wint. Coll. May 8, 1815.

CHAP. XXII.

BENEFICIAL RESULTS OF THE BISHOP'S PLANS. PROGRESS OF HIS COLLEGIATE SCHEME. YSTADFODD. CONTROVERSY WITH PROFESSOR MARSH AND R. P. KNIGHT, ESQ.

1810 to 1820.

OCCUPIED in these various studies, and energetically exerting himself for the improvement of his diocese, the life of the Bishop of St. David's glided on in a peaceful flow of serene happiness. An improved race of clergy was trained up in his seminaries, from among whom he selected individuals of superior merit for preferment: such of the beneficed clergy as were most distinguished by their professional acquirements and active piety frequently received gratifying proofs of his esteem, and the name of Dr. Burgess was associated throughout South Wales with epithets of respect and veneration.

The fame of his useful exertions extended far beyond the boundaries of his diocese ; an assertion which the Quarterly Review for November, 1810, forcibly illustrates in the following passage, which associates in a just eulogy the two names which we have so often ourselves linked together in the pre

ceding pages. After touching on some existing defects in clerical education, it adds, "Let it not be supposed that, in thus saying, we are depreciating the Church of England at a time when it boasts the learning and piety of so many of its members when Barrington, at Durham, vies in the munificence of his charitable foundations with the most splendid of his predecessors, and Burgess, at St. David's, performs all the duties of his apostolic function with a zeal worthy of the best ages of Christianity." Surprise was justly felt that, amidst such active employments, he could secure time for numerous publications, many of them bearing the stamp of great research and erudition. Among his various plans of diocesan improvement, none excited so much public interest as the projected Collegiate Seminary for Clerical Education. The slightest acquaintance with the circumstances and condition of the Welsh Church was sufficient to vindicate its necessity, and it therefore daily attracted increased attention, commendation, and support. Letters were addressed to him to this effect by Dr. Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, by Bishops Barrington and Huntingford, by the Rev. Charles Daubeny, and by some of the leading nobility and clergy connected with South Wales. Pecuniary subscriptions in aid of the plan flowed in from various parts of England, and liberal contributions, or legacies of books, anticipated the period when it should have a local

habitation and a name. Among the English friends who thus gave it their liberal support, the name of Bishop Barrington appears as a donor of 500l.; and within the precinets of the diocese a clergyman was found who contributed no less than 750l. in one donation. The late Rev. T. Beynon, Archdeacon of Cardigan, was the munificent contributor.

In the year 1809 the Bishop thought he might venture to commence this great undertaking. A plan for the intended structure was accordingly procured, and a quarry was opened near Llandewy Brefy, then its intended site; but upon a comparison between the probable expense and the amount of the subscriptions, the necessity of further delay became apparent. In the mean time the Bishop's hopes had been so highly excited, that he had not only sketched on paper, but even circulated in a printed form, a scheme for the govern ment of the College, and for the course of studies to be pursued in it.

The Ystadfodd, a triennial festive meeting held by rotation at Carmarthen, Brecon, and some other leading towns of the Principality, for the cultivation and encouragement of the ancient language and literature of Wales, was more than once honoured by the presence of the Bishop and Mrs, Burgess. The literary spirit which glowed in his own breast led him to sympathise warmly with the national predilections, which imparted peculiar enthusiasm to these celebrations. The interest which

he thus felt and displayed was very grateful to the natives of the Principality, and augmented the hold which he had obtained on their affections by higher and more sacred obligations. Though his studious habits, and numerous professional engagements, prevented his being a frequent visiter at the houses of the gentry, he was often indebted to their hospitality in the course of his long Confirmation tours; and I have heard him speak with great pleasure of visits which he had

thus paid to the

late Mr. Johnes of Hafod, to Colonel Lewis of Llaniron, to the late Mrs. Lloyd of Bronwick, and to the hospitable mansions of others of the Welsh gentry. Mrs. Lloyd, whose enlarged Christian benevolence and many amiable qualities endeared her to a large circle of friends and acquaintance, regarded the Bishop with friendship and veneration. She delighted in welcoming him beneath her roof; and sacred music being her favourite relaxation, she was able, with the assistance of some of the members of her family, to gratify his own taste for it by the united powers of the organ and the voice. The general impression produced by the Bishop on the minds and hearts of his various hosts was that of affectionate esteem and regard. Often has the writer of these pages heard him spoken of in such terms by various gentlemen of manly sense and great discrimination within the precincts of the Principality. They