became vacant, so anxious was he that every church in his Diocese should have a minister fearing God and doing good to the souls of men.

"He gave one of the best livings in the county of Pembroke to a very eminent and popular Clergyman, and the presentation was accompanied by a truly kind letter, reminding him of the high responsibility of the situation in which he was about to be placed, and at the same time encouraging him in the most affectionate manner to continue faithful and diligent in the discharge of his ministerial functions.

"The Clergyman in question has long since entered into his rest; he always kept this letter with his sermons, and said that it furnished him with a stimulus to constant and unremitting exertion.

"No Clergyman, who was active and faithful in the performance of his duties, could be long without receiving some intimation that his Lordship knew and approved of his conduct.

"He eminently bore the character as well as the name of Pastor Pastorum.

"The constant attention which he paid to the affairs of his Diocese, and the numerous works which he published, left him but little time at his command; yet I never heard a Clergyman complain that he called on any occasion at the Palace and found the Bishop difficult of access.

"His manners were remarkably affable, but at the same time grave and dignified. His meek and

venerable deportment seldom failed to make a favourable impression upon those whose prejudices led them to undervalue his sacred office; and I have known more than one Dissenter constrained to acknowledge that they never beheld a person who had more the appearance of a man of God.'

"The following anecdote is well known, and perfectly authenticated. A Baptist minister took upon him to make an oration over the remains of one of that sect in the church-yard of a parish near the town of Cardigan. Proceedings were in consequence instituted against him in the Bishop's Court by the minister of the parish, who was resolved to prosecute such an irregularity. In his distress, which was great, he went to the Bishop, and acknowledged how wrongly he had acted, but pleaded ignorance, and entreated forgiveness. His Lordship pointed out to him the illegality as well as the impropriety of his conduct, and told him that he had made himself liable to severe Ecclesiastical censure, but that being convinced the sorrow he expressed was sincere, he would take care that further proceedings against him were stayed. The leniency of his Lordship, and the mildness with which he tempered his grave reproofs, made such an impression on the poor man, that he exclaimed on leaving the Palace," I do believe if there is a godly man upon the earth, it is the Bishop." From that time he occasionally attended the parish church, and instead of any longer venting, as he

had been accustomed, virulent invectives against the Church and her members, he conducted himself towards both with marked deference and respect.

"When the Bishop and his Lady quitted Abergwilly, they were universally regretted in the neighbourhood, and particularly by the poor, who followed them with blessings, and bewailed their loss with indications of heart-felt sorrow. I particularly noticed one poor man, in whose coracle I crossed the river as he paddled along he frequently ejaculated, "Ay, he was the friend of the poor!"

"The Bishop," (says the Rev. Mr. Thomas, Vicar of Cardigan) "was in the habit of conversing freely with his clergy, and advising with them, as a father, in all things connected with their sacred duties.

"He ever manifested particular anxiety for the spiritual welfare of his Diocese, and never lost sight of the youthful portion of its population. At confirmations, he gave three or four small tracts, specially adapted to the occasion, to every one whom he confirmed. These he always took with him in his carriage, packed up in small parcels ready for the purpose. He was a liberal subscriber to charity schools, and he frequently gave exhibitions on particular subjects to the different grammarschools of the Diocese."

Mr. Thomas then enters into various interesting details illustrative of the Bishop's Christian cha

racter, but they are so similar to those already given, that it would be useless repetition to introduce them.

The following anecdote, communicated to the writer by the Rev. Mr. will attest the firm and manly support he was ready to give to his Clergy when unwarrantably opposed. A week-day evening lecture had been established by one of them in his parish church, to which some of the parishioners offered so much vexatious opposition, that the Clergyman was compelled to exercise his just authority in resistance of a determined interference with his ministerial jurisdiction. It soon became necessary to refer the question, by a common appeal, to the higher authority, and the decision was in favour of the Clergyman. His situation before things were brought to this issue was very trying, much unjust obloquy being industriously cast upon him. The Bishop, aware of this, and being well acquainted with all the circumstances that had occurred, left him not to contend uncountenanced with his opponents, but manifested his private view of the case by immediately attending the evening lecture himself, and continuing to do so for some time. His considerate countenance and support at once abashed the opposing party, and cheered the heart of a conscientious and excellent man.

CHAP. XXXI.

VARIOUS LETTERS.

TESTIMONY OF DR. JENKINSON,

BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S, TO THE NECESSITY AND VALUE.

We are now to think of the Bishop as fixed in his new Diocese, and occupied in the discharge of its professional duties. We shall hereafter contemplate him in this character; but the general objects of our narrative will be furthered by the insertion in this place of the following letters; and, when we add that those from Mrs. Hannah More were written at the age of eighty, we think our readers will doubly admire their vivacity and energy.

TO MRS. HANNAH MORE.

MY DEAR MADAM,

London, Feb. 5. 1825.

I ARRIVED here on Wednesday afternoon from Durham, a journey of 260 miles, in very little more than forty-eight hours, from which you will judge