16 December, 1651, made provision for the foundation and endowment of an hospital and library in Manchester. The hospital was to maintain and educate forty poor boys to the age of fourteen, when they were to be bound apprentice or otherwise provided for. He directed that they should be elected out of various townships named in the will, and recommended the trustees to purchase the old college for a place of residence for the children, and for the use of the library. For commencing the library he bequeathed £1000 to be expended in books, and gave the residue of his personal estate to augment the collection. The college was accordingly purchased of the celebrated Charlotte de Tremouille countess of Derby, the gallant defender of Lathom house, and in 1665 the trustees were incorporated by charter. In a short time the trustees were enabled to extend the beneficence of the founder to sixty boys, and, since 1780, eighty boys have been supported and educated in this establishment. They are clothed in the same fashion as at the first foundation, in long blue vests with a petticoat of yellow, blue worsted stockings, with a blue cap or bonnet, and linen bands at the neck. The make of this dress is similar to that of the children in Christ's hospital, London. Humphrey Chetham resided at Clayton Hall near Manchester, and Turton Tower, near Bolton, in Lancashire. He was born on the 10th of July, 1580, realised a large property in trade, and died unmarried on the 12th of October 1653, in the seventyfourth year of his age. This, and what is related by Dr. Fuller, who places him among his "Worthies," is all, perhaps, that is known of this beneficent man. Fuller says" Humphrey Chetham, third son of Henry Chetham, of Cromp sall, gentleman, is thought (on just ground) to descend from Sir Geffery Chetham, cf Chetham, a man of much remark in former days, and some old writings in the hands of worshipful persons, not far remote from the place, do evidence as much; but the said Sir Geffery falling, in troublesome times, into the King's displeasure, his family (in effect) was long since ruinated. It seems his posterity was unwilling to fly far from their old (though destroyed) nest, and got themselves handsome habitation at Crompsall, hard by, where James, elder brother of this Humphrey, did reside. The younger brethren, George, Humphrey, and Ralph, a betook themselves to the trading of this county, dealing in Manchester commodities, sent up to London; and Humphrey signally improved himself in piety and outward prosperity. He was a diligent reader of the Scriptures, and of the Works of sound Divines; a respecter of such Ministers as were accounted truly godly, upright, sober, discreet, and sincere. He was High Sheriffe of this County, 1635, discharging the place with great honor; insomuch that very good gentleman of birth and estate did wear his cloth at the assize, to testify their unfeigned affection to him; and two of the same profession with himself, viz. John Hartly and H. Wrigley, Esquires, have since been Sheriffes. of the county. Grudge not, Reader, to go through so long a porch; for I assure thee it leads unto a fair palace! to as great a master-piece of bounty as our age hath afforded. This Mr. Chetham, by his will, bearing date the 16th December, 1651, gave £7000 to buy a fee-simple estate of £420 for ever, for the education of forty poor children, in Manchester, at school, from about six till fourteen years of age, when they are to be bound out apprentices. They must be of poor but honest married parents, not diseased at the time wherein they are chosen, not lame or blind; in regard the town of Manchester hath ample means already (if so employed) for the maintenance of such impotents. Indeed, he intended it for a seminary of religion and ingenuity, where the aforesaid boys were to have diet, lodging, apparel, and instruction. He gave £1000 for books to a library, and £100 to prepare a place for them. Ile bequeathed £200 to buy books (such as he himself delighted in) for the Churches of Manchester, Bolton, and other Chapels thereabouts. He gave the remainder of his estate (debts and legacies first paid) to the increase of the books in the library--Now, as the loaves in the Gospel multiplied in the breaking, so Mr. Chetham's estate did not shrink, but swelled, in the calling of it in: insomuch that the surplusage is known to be the better part of two thousand pounds. Dying a batchelor, he appointed George Chetham, Esq., citizen and grocer, of London (whereof he was chosen alderman, 1656, and fined for the same) and Edward Chetham, gentleman, executors of his will and testament: "God send us more such men, that we may dazzle the eyes of the Papists with the light of Protestant good works."-And know, reader, I am beholden for my exact information herein, to my worthy friend Mr. Johnson, late preacher of the Temple, and one of the Feoffees appointed by Mr. Chetham, for the uses aforesaid." Where the college was erected by Thomas West, lord de la Warre, formerly stood the old manor house, called the "Baron's Hall," which for many centuries had been the chief residence of the Gresleys, and De la Warres, lords of Be it remembered, by seekers of street literature who visit Manchester, that at Hanging Ditch lives the celebrated "Swindells," the great Manchester printer of murders, executions, marvellous tales, ghost stories, ballads, prophecies, christmas carols, and other wonders and delights, published at suitable seasons, and oftener if need be, by the flying stationers, "at the small price of one halfpenny." The public library founded at Manchester college by Humphrey Chetham is the great attraction in Manchester to a bookish man. It is the only library in the kingdom in which every person has the liberty of unlicensed reading. It is open to the public daily, from nine in the morning till one, and from two till five in the afternoon; except in the interval from October to Easter, when it is closed at four o'clock. Any one that chooses, whether resident or not, on going to Chetham's library, and requiring to read, is requested by the sub-librarian to write his name and address in a book kept for that purpose, and, having done this, he is at liberty to read on that and every other day, in a room provided with requisites for writing. In 1791 a catalogue of the collection of books and MSS. was printed in two octavo volumes, and in 1826 a third volume containing subsequent additions. Several of the MSS. are exceedingly curious; the printed books are, in general, the best works in history, philosophy, and science, with good editions of the classics. The liberality which has provided, and thrown open to unrestricted use, so vasta library, is without example. In a gallery, which leads to the library, there is a collection of what formerly were deemed "curiosities." This is shown and described to visitors who desire it for a trifling acknowledgment. The boys of the college are exhibitors in turn, and, except perhaps to natives of Lancashire, the show-boy is the greatest curiosity. With a loud voice, and in a dialect and intonation so peculiar as to be indescribable, the boy directs the attention of the rustic and genteel alike, to the objects he exhibits. Happily, of what he says there exists a report, which, however seemingly ludicrous, is literally faithful. As soon as the show-boy enters the gallery of curiosities, he points at the articles, and describes them as follows: "That's th' Skeleton of a Man-that's a Globe-that's a Telescope - that's a Snake-over th' snake's back's two Watch Bills-those are four ancient Swords-that with a white haft wonst belonged to General Wolfe-that's th' Whip that th' Snake was kilt with-that topmost's a Crocodile-that bottomost's an Alligator-that boot wonst belonged to Queen Elizabeth-that's an Indian Pouch -that's an ancient Stiletto-that's part of Humphrey Cheetham's Armour-that with th white face is a Monkey-under th' monkey's a green Lizard-side o' th' monkey's a Porpus's Skull-under th' porpus's skull's an Alligator-under th' alligator's a Turtle-those Bows and Arrows belonged to the Indians—that's a Porpus's Head-those are various kinds of Adders, Worms, Snakes, Fishes, and venemous creatures- that Albine Piece was taken from th' dead body of a French man that was killed at th' Battle of Waterloo, that was fought i' th' year eighteen hundert and fifteen those are a pair of Eagle's Claws-that Arrow belonged to one o' th' legions that fought under th' Duke of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth Field, in th' year 1485, when King Richard the Third, king of England, was slain-those Arrows wonst belonged to Robin Hood-that's a Sea Hen-that's a Sea Weed-that's a Unicorn Fish that's part of an Indian's Skull-that's th' top part of it-that's part of Oliver Cromwell's Stone and Tankard — those Balls are took out of a Cow-that's part of a Load Stone-those two Pieces of Wood was Almanacks before printing was found out-that's a Hairy Manunder th' hairy man's a Speaking trumpet- side o' th' speaking trumpet's a Shark's Jaw Bone that that's leaning 'gainst th' speaking trumpet's Oliver Cromwell's Sword-that's a Leathern Bag -side o' th' leathern bag' two Cokey Nut Shells--side o' the' cokey nut shells' a Porpus's Skull - side o' th' porpus's skull's a Pumpkin-side o' th' pumpkin's an American Cat-over th' pumpkin's a Turtle-side o' th' turtle's a Sea Weed that top one's a Crocodile-under th' erocodile's an Alligator--under th' alligator's a Woman's Clog that was split by a thunder bolt, and hoo wasn't hurt-side o'th' crocodile's tail's a Sea Hen-side o' th' sea hen's a Laplander's Snow ShoeThat in a box is th' Skeletou ef a Nightingale!" At the termination of this account, it is usual for the show-boy to enter the reading-room, with his company, and, to the annoyance of readers, point out, with the same loud showmanlike voice, the por traits of Chetham the founder, and certain other worthies of Manchester, long since deceased, not forgetting an old inlaid oak table. In conclusion, he claims wood, as the last curiosity, by saying, attention to the figure of a cock, carved in "This is the Cock that crows when he smells roast beef." Many of the country people are far greater "curiosities" to a bystander, than any in the collection they and solemn surprise, and evidently with come to see. They view all with gravity conviction that they are at length witnessiug some of the most wonderful wonders of world. B The following ballad, in the Lancashire Just three week sin come Sunday. Au fund we'r loike to ha three carts, 'Twur thrunk as Eccles Wakes, mon : We donn'd eawr tits i' ribbins too, One red, one green, and tone war blue, Loike a race for th' Ledger stakes, mon. Deawn Withy-Grove at last we coom, As'd dreawn o'th' folk i' Owdham. To th' best of aw meh knowledge : Says au, we'll look at th' college. There's snakes, an watch-bills just loike poikes Eh! lorjus days, booath far an woide, Sich plecks there's very few so : There's a trumpet speyks and maks a din, Just loike thoose chaps o' Boney's: Loike th' clooas press at meh gronney's. We seed a wooden cock loikewise, Os sure os teaw'r a sinner; That cock when it smells roast beef'll crow lume of the Every Day Book, and de. cribed in that work. January 14. MALLARD DAY. At All-Souls College, Oxford, there is annually on the evening of this day a great merry-making, occasioned by a circumstance related in "Oxoniensis Academia, or the Antiquities and Curiosities of the University of Oxford, by the Rev. John Pointer," who says, "Another custom is that of celebrating their Mallard-night every year on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a huge mallard or drake, found (as tradition goes) imprisoned in a gutter or drain under ground, and grown to a vast bigness, at the digging for the foundation of the College. "Now to account for the 'longevity of this mallard, Mr. Willughby, in his Ornithology, tells us (p. 14, speaking of the age of birds) that he was assured by a friend of his, a person of very good credit, that his father kept a goose known to be eighty years of age, and as yet sound and Au've a peawnd i' meh hat for meh dinner. lusty, and like enough to have lived many Boh th' hairy mon had missed meh thowt, We moot sit an smook till morn, mon. An pots, an spoons, an ladles : An Nan ax'd proice o' th' cradles. At neet oich lad an bonny lass, Ot we lay till twelve next day, mon. It should not be forgotten that in collection at the college there are two clogalmanacs, similar to that which is engraven as a frontispiece to the second vo years longer, had he not been forced to kill her for her mischievousness, worrying and destroying the young geese and goslings. "And my lord Bacon, in his Natural History, p. 286, says the goose may pass among the long livers, though his food be commonly grass and such kind of nourishment, especially the wild-goose: whereupon this proverb grew among the Germans: Magis senex quàm Ansernivalis -older than a wild-goose. And, if a goose be such a long-lived bird, why not a duck or drake, since I reckon they may be both ranked in the same class, though of a different species as to their size, as a rat and a mouse? "And, if so, this may help to give credit to our All-Souls mallard. However, this is certain, this mallard is the accidental occasion of a great gaudy once a year, and great mirth, though the commemoration of their founder is the chief occasion. For on this occasion is always sung a merry old song." This notice caused "A complete Vindication of the Mallard of All-Souls College, against the injurious suggestions of the Rev. Mr. Pointer:" a publication by a pleasant writer, who, with mock gravity, contends that the illustrious mallard had, through a "forged hypothesis," been degraded into a goose. To set this important affair in a true light, he proceeds to say "I shall beg leave to transcribe a passage from Thomas Walsingham, a monk of St. Alban's, and regius professor of history in that monastery about the year 1440. This writer is well known among the historians for his Historia Brevis, written in Latin, and published both by Camden and archbishop Parker: but the tract I am quoting is in English, and entitled, 'Of wonderful and surprising Eventys,' and, as far as I can find, has never yet been printed. The eighth chapter of his fifth book begins thus:"Ryghte wele worthie of note is thilke famous tale of the All-Soulen Mallarde, the whiche, because it bin acted in our daies, and of a suretye vouched unto me, I will in fewe wordys relate. "Whenas Henrye Chichele, the late renowned archbishope of Cantorberye, had minded to founden a collidge in Oxenforde, for the hele of his soule and the soules of all those who peryshed in the warres of Fraunce, fighteing valiantlye under our most gracious Henrye the fifthe, moche was he distraughten concerning the place he myghte choose for thilke purpose. Him thinkyth some whylest how he myghte place it withouten the eastern porte of the citie, both for the pleasauntnesse of the meadowes and the clere streamys therebye runninge. Agen him thinkyth odir whylest howe he mote builden it on the northe side for the heleful ayre there coming from the fieldes. Nowe while he doubteth thereon he dremt, and behold there appereth unto him one of righte godelye personage, sayinge and adviseing as howe he myghte placen his collidge in the highe strete of the citie, nere unto the chirche of our blessed ladie the Virgine, and in witnesse that it was sowthe, and no vain and deceitful phantasie, wolled him to laye the first stane of the foundation at the corner which turneth towards the Cattys-Strete, where in delvinge he myghte of a suretye finde a • 3rd Edition, Oxford, 1793, 8vo. schwoppinge mallarde imprisoned in the sinke or sewere, wele yfattened and almost ybosten. Sure token of the thrivaunce of his future college. "Moche doubteth he when he awoke on the nature of this vision, whethyr he mote give hede thereto or not. Then advisyth he there with monie docters and learnyd clerkys, who all seyde howe he oughte to maken trial upon it. Then comyth he to Oxenforde, and on a daye fixed, after masse seyde, proceedeth he in solemnee wyse, with spades and pickaxes for the nonce provided, to the place afore spoken of. But long they had not digged ere they herde, as it myghte seme, within the wam of the erthe, horrid strugglinges and flutteringes, and anon violent quaak inges of the distressyd mallarde. Then Chichele lyfteth up his hondes and seyth Benedicite, &c. &c. Nowe when they broughte him forth, behold the size of his bodie was as that of a bustarde or an ostridge. And moche wonder was thereat; for the lycke had not been seene in this londe, ne in onie odir." Upon this "historical proof" the vindicator rests the verity of the venerable mallard, and goes on to prove that "Mr. Pointer, by taking the longevity of the mallard for granted, hath endeavoured to establish thereon the hypothesis of the goose in opposition to all truth and testimony, both historical and prophetical." The vindicator further affirms that he is greatly surprised to find "an orthodox clergyman, like Mr. Pointer, abetting errors, and proposing (though obscurely) dangerous innovations." For, he enquires, "would any one but this author have represented so august a ceremony, as the celebration of the mallard, by those vulgar circumstances of eating and drinking, and singing a merry old song?" However, to conclude all that can be reasonably said of this commemoration and its origin, and, because this " merry old song" hath not been given by either the alleged asperser or the espouser of the bird of All-Souls, the ballad is extracted and printed below, from a collection well known to Oxonians. It must not however be forgotten that the reverend author of "A Companion to the Guide, and a Guide to the Companion," which purports to be "A complete supplement to all the accounts of Oxford hitherto published," says, in his preface, “that the Reverend Mr. Pointer, rector of Slapton in Northamptonshire. was but little ae |