set at the head of the popish party, and was a violent enemy of the Earl of Clarendon." *

[1667]. "The Earl of Clarendon found his credit was declining, that all the secrets of state were trusted to Bennet, and that he had no other share in them than his post required. The Lady Castlemaine set herself most violently against him; and the Duke of Buckingham, as often as he was admitted to any familiarities with the king, studied with all his wit and humour to make Lord Clarendon and all his counsels appear ridiculous."+

"Yet the king was so afraid to engage himself too deep in his own affairs, that it was a doubt whether he could dismiss him or not, if a concern of one of his amours had not sharpened his resentment. The king said to the Lord Lauderdale, that he had talked of the matter with Sheldon, and that he had convinced him that it was necessary to remove Lord Clarendon from his post; and as soon as it was done, the king sent for Sheldon, and told him what he had done; but he answered nothing. When the king insisted to oblige him to declare himself, he said- Sir, I wish you would put away this woman that you keep.' The king, upon that, replied sharply, why he had never talked to him of that sooner, but took this occasion now to speak of it. Lauderdale told me, he had all this from the king; and that the king and Sheldon had gone into such expostulations upon it, that, from that day forward, Sheldon could never recover the king's confidence.

"The seals were given to Sir Orlando Bridgman, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. . . . . He was a man of great integrity, and had very serious impressions of religion on his mind. He had been always on the side of the church, yet he had great tenderness for the non-conformists; and the bishops having all declared for Lord Clarendon, except one or two, he and the new scene of the ministry were inclined to favour them [the non-conformists]. The Duke of Buckingham, who had been in high disgrace before Lord Clarendon's fall, came, upon that, into high favour, and set up for a patron of liberty of conscience, and of all the sects. The see of Chester happened to fall vacant soon after, and Dr. Wilkins was by him promoted to that see. It was no small prejudice to him, that he was recommended by so bad a man. The king had such a command of himself, that when his interest led him to serve any end, or to court any set of men, he did it so dexterously, and with such an air of sincerity, that, till men were well practised in him, he was apt to impose on them. He seemed now to go into moderation and comprehension with so much heartiness, that both Bridgman and Wilkins believed he was in earnest in it; though there was nothing that the popish counsels were more fixed in, than to oppose all motions of that kind. But the king saw it was necessary to recover the affections of his people; and since the church of England was now gone off from him, upon Lord Clarendon's disgrace, he resolved to shew some favour to the sects, both to soften them, and to force the others to come back to their dependence upon him."‡

“The king was highly offended at the behaviour of most of the bishops. ... "Bridgman and Wilkins set on foot a treaty for a comprehension of such of the dissenters as could be brought into the communion of the church, and a toleration of the rest. . . . a project was prepared, consisting chiefly of those things which the king had promised by his declaration in the year 1660... but what advantages soever the men of comprehension might have in any other respect, the majority of the House of Commons was so possessed against them, that when it was known, in a succeeding session, that a bill was ready to be offered to the house for that end, a very extraordinary vote was passed, that no bill to that purpose should be received." ||

✦ Ibid. p. 277. Ibid. pp. 288, 9.

* Burnet's Own Time, vol. i. pp. 106-108. (ed. 1818.) Ibid. pp. 280-282.

At the Vespers.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Editor begs to remind his readers that he is not responsible for the opinions
of his Correspondents.

"BISHOP'S COLLEGE," NEAR CALCUTTA.*

MR. EDITOR, Many of your readers will recollect that, nearly twenty years ago, the able and learned Bishop Middleton proposed to the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as the best means of extending their operations to India, the establishment of an institution at Calcutta, which should be strictly collegiate in constitution, discipline, and character, primarily and chiefly for the education of Christian youth, European and native, with a view to their becoming qualified to preach to the heathen; next, for the producing accurate and authorized versions into the languages of the East of the scriptures, the liturgy, and other holy books, for the instruction of the natives, diffusing such sacred knowledge, by means of schools, and teachers well educated for the purpose; so as to combine and consolidate, as far as possible, into one system, and to direct into one uniform course of sentiment and action, the various endeavours made in India to advance the Christian cause; and thirdly, for the reception of missionaries on their arrival from England, and to provide them with the necessary means of instruction in the native languages, previous to their entering on any active service; and by generally directing their views and energies, without loss of strength and time, to those pursuits and acquirements which should best conduce to their future usefulness.†

The bishop's proposal was embraced and adopted by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; and, on being made generally known in England, was seconded by public munificence and private bounty. That society immediately placed at his disposal for the purpose the sum of five thousand pounds; and the sister-society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the like amount. The Church Missionary Society to Africa and the East also contributed five thousand pounds, and afterwards an additional sum of two thousand, in aid of the maintenance of the institution. And the British and Foreign Bible Society likewise voted five thousand pounds in aid of scripture translations.

[The Editor is afraid that, after a delay of several months, the writer of this letter may think that it has been undervalued or rejected. Its length, even if the Magazine had not been during the time much pressed to find room, might have excused some delay; and will, it is hoped, be an apology for giving it now somewhat curtailed.]

+ For the powerful letter, urging the establishment of this college, with its details at large, as well as of all the difficulties and obstacles encountered and overcome by Bishop Middleton, the reader is referred to the admirable memoir of that prelate, published by Mr. Le Bas.

The foundation stone of this college was laid by Bishop Middleton himself, after a solemn prayer for the divine blessing on his pious undertaking, before a large assemblage of the British residents, on the 15th of December, 1820; but it was not in the course of Providence that this great and exemplary prelate should behold the full accomplishment of his benevolent wishes, for he died, a victim to Bengal fever, on the 8th of July, 1822, when but little progress had been made in the erection of the building. Early, however, in 1824, while still far from being completed, Principal Mill entered on a residence within its walls, and received a few students; at length, in January, 1826, when the senior and junior professors also became resident, the college came into full operation.

Before referring more particularly to the fact that the intentions, both of the bishop and the society, have been fully accomplished by the college, so far as they could be realized in so limited a period, it may not be uninteresting to your readers to notice briefly its localities. Five miles below Calcutta, on the opposite (and right) bank of that branch of the mighty Ganges which is commonly known among us as the Hooghly river, commences the government botanic garden, extending upwards along the banks of the river for more than a mile, and commanding a magnificent reach of the Ganges, thence called "Garden Reach;" the left bank of which (on the same side with Calcutta) is studded with beautiful villa-palaces and plantations.

This exquisite demesne of three hundred and eighty acres, rich in all the finest species of the flower and fruit-bearing trees and plants of the tropics, with spacious walks and roads, abounding in every tasteful variety of scene, the whole created by the genius of Dr. Roxburgh, would be more suitably termed a highly adorned park than a botanic garden. In the part of this garden nearest to Calcutta, an abortive attempt had been latterly made to naturalize the teak tree; for it attained but a small growth, and in place of supplying, as had been hoped, ship and house building timber, formed merely an useless jungle. The Marquis of Hastings, then governor-general, granted (in council) twenty acres of the extreme end of this jungle to Bishop Middleton, for the site and grounds of his projected college; and upon it, when partially cleared, the foundations of the building were laid.

The elevation and plans of this beautiful Gothic structure were drawn under the bishop's direction, and remain a lasting monument of his elegant taste in collegiate architecture. It consists of three sides of a square of one hundred and fifty feet-one parallel, and two at right angles, to the stream of the Ganges; the fourth side of the square next to the river being left vacant, and the nearest end scarcely fifty yards from the river bank. As viewed from the river, the building parallel to it has to the left the college hall below, the college library above, a handsome tower and gate, resembling that of Trinity College, Cambridge, in the centre, and to the right the chapel, with buttress and pinnacle in a richly ornamented Gothic style. Whilst the two buildings in lines at right angles to the river course are in a plainer style, for dwellings. And although before trial it had been thought VOL. XV.-Feb. 1839.

Y