will permit me to indulge for a short time. It is now more than thirty years that Oriel has been the scene of nearly all my labours and pursuits, my cares and anxieties, my intellectual and social enjoyments. The place is endeared to me by the strongest ties of a personal and local kind. It has been the parent of my dearest friendships, as well as of my purest pleasure. I am identified with it, in my own recollections and feelings at least, by having served every office, and by having repeatedly discharged the functions of every department belonging to its constitution. The government of the college has, indeed, been rendered comparatively a light burden, by the vigilance and energy by which all its officers have maintained its discipline, by the unanimity which has pervaded the resident members, and by the kind, frank, and cordial intercourse which has subsisted between them and myself. From such a scene, and from such connexions, I cannot withdraw unmoved. Yet I am supported by the confident hope that there will be no loss of private friendship, and that frequent opportunities will arise of renewing that personal intercourse which must now for a time be suspended. It is no light consolation, also, to feel assured that the society will continue to flourish as it has hitherto done. There are no marks of degeneracy visible-no symptoms of decrepitude or decay. That it may long continue to realize the beneficial and pious design of its founder; that it may ever be found a firm pillar of our apostolical church, and a nurse of all that is lovely and of good report, is and ever will be my fervent prayer. I request that you will have the goodness to communicate to the fellows, at your earliest convenience, the enclosed form of resignation; and I subscribe myself, with sentiments of the strongest personal esteem, and with a grateful sense of the kindness I have experienced from yourself, and from all the other fellows, dear Mr. Dean, Your obliged and most affectionate friend, E. LLANDAFF. On the 14th of February, 1828, the bishop took the oaths and his seat in the House of Lords, nor was it long before he was called upon, in this his new capacity, to bear his part in a very momentous deliberation, as appears from the entry in his diary for March 15. 'Attended a small meeting by the archbishop's invitation, to consider of the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. 'Present,-The two Archbishops, Bishop of London . . . Bishop of Chester . Mr. Peel, Home Sec. Howley, .. Van-Mildert, Blomfield, 'Agreed that Mr. Peel should propose a form of declaration in lieu of the Sacramental Test.' Again: 'March 21. Full meeting of Bishops on the Sacramental Test. Proposed declaration generally approved.' On the 22nd April the bishop spoke upon this question in reply to Lord Eldon, and made this entry in his diary: 'Spoke in the House of Lords for the first time,—an unprepared reply to Lord Eldon on the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts.' When the third reading took place he spoke again, and subsequently printed his speech. Turning from these high employments and anxious duties, we see the bishop enjoying, in his hours of relaxation, that refined society in which he was so well qualified to take a part. 'June 12. Dined with S. Rogers; an exquisitely elegant house. The style of the dinner-the composition of the party-all in unison. Lord and Lady Lansdowne, Mr. J. Grenville, Mr. and Lady Sarah Lyttelton, Lord Ashburnham, Mr. and Mrs. Cunliffe. Rogers has the 'molle atque facetum' in perfection.' 'June 16. Dined at Lord Grosvenor's. A splendid party. The new gallery with the Rubenses magnificent.' 'July 5. Dinner at home. Sir Thomas Lawrence, Southey, Captain Back, &c.' Such notices as these I would not altogether omit, for they tend to set forth the subject of my memoir as the man of letters-the polished and gifted conversationist. Intellectual acuteness, exact precision of thought, and a most delicate appreciation of the proprieties of colloquial phraseology, were, perhaps, among his leading characteristics; whilst the quickness of his mind was such as at times to produce the effect of over-sensitiveness, and a degree of impatient irritation would occasionally mar the pleasure of the hour. During the latter part of his life, this defect became more apparent, and certainly resulted very much from frequent bodily suffering. But even when the cloud hung over him, there was for the most part such an unmistakeable benevolence in the general cast of his sentiments, and his hearers were so thoroughly impressed by the feeling that a good as well as a powerful mind was exerting itself, that they readily excused in him what would scarcely have been borne with in an inferior person. When the clear spirit within' was no longer chafed by those ails which perhaps are unknown to duller temperaments, the full stream of eloquent talk flowed on, sparkling with bright points of thought; and many a time have we been doubtful which of the two was most admirable-the all-comprehensive memory, that seemed to be stored with facts on every conceivable subject, or the felicitous language which seemed to place those subjects in a clearer light than they ever were seen in before. The course of my memoir now tends towards that scene where the fondest and warmest recollections will long hover round the name of Copleston. The following passage from the diary relates to a visit which the bishop paid while on his way to his diocese, and shows, in its latter part, with what feelings he entered upon his episcopal duties: Aug. 4, 1828. Drove to Mr. Harford's, Blaise Castle. The weather being fine, I enjoyed a delicious ramble of four hours over the beautiful and romantic ground, in company with my amiable and highly-accomplished host and his wife. On viewing the castle, and observing several coats of arms of his friends adorning the interior, I promised, at his request, to add my own. The beauty of the ground, and the exquisite taste with which the walks and drives are conducted; the lodges and cottages and the gardens managed, equal anything I have ever seen. The house is a kind of lyceum, containing an excellent collection of pictures, brought from Italy by Mr. H. himself, casts of the most celebrated pieces of sculpture,' &c. &c. 'Next day by the old passage through Chepstow and Raglan to Llansanfraed..... The first impressions on my entrance upon my diocesan residence were very agreeable. The country beautiful, and in high verdure. "The house I have hired is admirably situated in a large lawn, at a good distance from the road, and very convenient. This is a kind of epoch in my life. And when I compare my state of health, as well as my situation, with what it was two years ago, I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to God-with my prayers, that the visitation of sickness of the most distressing kind may prove to be the chastening rod only of a merciful Father, tending to increase my happiness in this world, and to secure it in the next. 'I have now enjoyed nearly five months of uninterrupted health and spirits. God grant that I may not be forgetful of so great a blessing, if the continuance of it should be graciously vouchsafed to me, and that I may prove my thankfulness by an active and cheerful fulfilment of the duties which belong to my new station.' Having now reached the culminating point in my Memoir, and looking down a vista of twenty-one years that yet remain, I am happy in being promised the assistance of one more informed than myself, and more able in every way to give a just and connected view of the bishop's episcopate. For many years the active supporter of his bishop in every good work within the limits of the Llandaff diocese, and known far beyond those limits as the energetic and successful advocate of Welsh education in general, Sir Thomas Phillips will be recognised by all as a person most competent to the task which he has so kindly undertaken; and doubtless my readers will think with me, that the testimonial of a distinguished and independent layman is more valuable than the eulogy of those who are connected by official or family ties.* Meanwhile, as * This paper will be found at the end of my Memoir. See Preface. |