and well-written sketches of their history; by which this work is considerably enlivened, and its value augmented.

The note which delineates the character of the versatile and time-serving Aldred, archbishop of York, the favourite of king Edward the Confessor, the supporter of Harold, and after his defeat the avowed advocate of William, exhibits a trait of the arrogance of the priesthood at that period, which is not unworthy of record:

• Offended with the sheriff of Yorkshire, and unable to get redress, without a personal application to the throne, Aldred hastened up to London. Habited in pontificalibus, and attended by a numerous train, he went to the King, whom he found in council at Westminster. Bursting through the crowd, he saluted the Monarch with a heavy curse, if he did not grant his suit. William, perhaps as much alarmed by the novelty, as by the violence of this address, fell at the Arch. bishop's feet. The Lords of the council beheld, with indignation, the imperious prelate thus insulting his sovereign, and, remonstrating on the impropriety of suffering the King to kneel, would have assisted in raising him from the ground. The Archbishop arrogantly replied; "stand off, let him lie there; it is not at my feet, but at those of St. Peter he is prostrate."

The benefactions under each reign are distinctly mentioned: 'but we shall pass from the Conquest to the time of Henry VIII. in order to notice, with the commendation which it so truly deserves, the magnanimous effort of Mr. Dickinson to render justice to the memory of Cardinal Wolsey; a man who, with all his faults, possessed a mind of unusual capacity and energy; and whose character, considering the difficult circumstances in which he acted, has been generally traduced and undervalued. Mr. D. remarks that

It has been one of the common observations of mankind, and it has formed the principal solace of many an unfortunate, or unpopular minister, that, when the prejudices of disappointed dependants, the jealousy of rival cotemporaries, or the spleen of a capricious monarch, have ceased to influence the opinions of the public, posterity have done justice to the characters of those who have deserved well of their country. The fate of Wolsey forms, indeed, a singular, and an aweful exception; because he was not good, the world has reluctantly allowed him to be great; because he had not the virtues of a bishop, mankind have usually denied him the qualities of a minister. A mere outline of this extraordinary man's character will be the utmost, to which the limits of a note will allow me to extend my observations. In those, perhaps, some new reasoning, on notorious facts, may be found; but it is right to premise, that little merit of discovery is claimed, as the general source of my intelligence is Dr. Fiddes's history of Wolsey's life, and the authorities therein cited. Had the doctor done that justice to the subject of his treatise, which his mateREV. DEC. 1804. rials

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rials might have enabled him, this attempt would have been unneces sary.'

Mr. D. then subjoins a succinct account of Wolsey, in which the events of his life are reviewed in a judicious manner, and the minister of Henry is delineated with precision :

"Of all men whose manners history has recorded, Wolsey was best able, by the versatility of his talents, to please such a monarch as his master. Henry was indolent, haughty, arbitrary, enthusiastic, and debauched. Every one of these qualities this minister was peculiarly fitted to flatter. With a capacity equal to bear the whole burthen of government; a dignity of person, and majesty of manner, that seemed the counterpart of Henry's; a firm persuasion of the unlimited power of Kings; a taste for disputation, with a peculiar facility of appearing to be convinced; uncommon vivacity, when not under the restraint of decorum ; he could always adapt himself to the fluctuating humor of his master, and the exigencies of the hour. He could, with the same facility, dance, or sing, or partake of a debauch, as he could direct the operations of war, or give audience to the representatives of sovereigns. Those who know the human heart, must perceive of how great value such a minister must be to Henry. Is it matter of surprise then, that grant after grant, and preferment after preferment, should be lavished on a man whose talents were invaluable to their employer, because the loss of them was not to be supplied from any other quarter? Is it matter of surprise that the favourite of such a King should amass wealth, power, and honors, when they were so easy to be obtained? The only enquiry to be made, is, did he sacrifice the welfare of the kingdom to his own emolument ? Historians in general, have taken for granted that he did; but not one has advanced any evidence to prove it, which is not capable of another interpretation. Let us examine the transactions in which he was most notoriously concerned, and we shall find, what Godwin says, to be strictly true," that never did the interest of England prosper so well after the fall of Wolsey, as while he directed her affairs.'

'The large sums of money, and ample revenues, which Wolsey received from foreign powers, have been considered as a decisive proof of his corruption. To this much may be said; so much, indeed, that, without incontestible proofs of guilt, the strongest arguments may be inferred from it in favour of the Cardinal's innocence. If he did not betray the interests of his country, while he promoted his own, no blame is to be imputed to him on the public account; but, it should seem, a man, so well versed in human affairs as Wolsey, would not have accepted emoluments, the magnitude, the mode of accruing, the frequency, and the notoriety of which, could not possibly escape the detection of rival courtiers; and, consequently, could not fail to produce the foulest suspicions respecting the integrity of him, who received them without the knowledge of the King. I would rather suppose that the pensions, which were paid to Wolsey, were by the consent of Henry; who, always profuse, and always poor, was glad

to

to have so good a storehouse for treasure, which he could, at most times, borrow, and could, at any time, dedicate irrevocably to his own extravagance, by the sacrifice of his minister. It was below the King's dignity to receive pensions from foreign courts; but, by these means, his rapacity was gratified, while he might hope his honor was saved. A strong argument, in favor of this supposition, is Hampton court palace being built by the directions, and with the money, of Wolsey; but for Henry's habitation.

This composes the sum and substance of the Cardinal's public conduct. For this, so much obloquy has been thrown on his reputation; and, in support of the sentence, every thing which malignity could suggest to a mischievous imagination, or credulity propagate, has been raked from the repositories, where the rancorous malice of the Cardinal's rival cotemporaries had placed them, by indiscriminating reporters, for the purpose of blackening his character. War was never proclaimed, nor peace ratified, according to these historians, but for the purpose of promoting Wolsey to the papacy. That he aspired to that dignity is undoubted. That he did so was meritorious whether it was to gratify his own ambition, or whether it was to serve the country that produced him, and the monarch under whose genial influence he had ripened into a situation that enabled him to become a candidate. It is well said, by Bishop Burnet, in his history of the reformation, that "while Wolsey ruled the councils of England, she never engaged in an alliance, which was not to her advantage. Such a declaration, from such a man, is better than a volume of arguments, and is a sufficient answer to such improbable accusations, so feebly supported. Hume also, in his history, observes that "the subsequent conduct of Henry was so much more criminal than that, which had been influenced by Wolsey, that one must attribute mnch more blame to the King's violent temper, than to the Cardinal's improper counsels."

From a literary man, Wolsey may be expected to receive the praise of being the most splendid Mæcenas of his day. Indeed his endowments for the promotion of religion and letters were so truly princely, that, to use the language of Shakspeare, "Christendom shall ever speak his virtue." Mr. D. gives to Wolsey the credit of making the first effort towards the Reformation, and the facts which he states appear to justify him in his representation. The Cardinal's public munificence in favour of learning is acknowleged to have been great: but, continues his present biographer, the whole of the splendid foundations which he erected, taken together, were not so effectual, in their operation, towards the advancement of the end in view, as the means by which he enabled himself to endow these new formed societies. The corruption of the times, and especially in the manners of the clergy, was the subject of oomplaint among all orders of mankind. Wolsey's discernment could not but discover the source of the evil; but to apply a remedy was an Bb 2 object

object the difficulty of which was only surpassed by his resolution to overcome it. The monasteries, he well knew, were the temples of superstition, ignorance, and vice; but they were also the pillars, on which that mighty superstructure, the dominion, and the faith, of Rome, was supposed to rest.' Mr. D. is therefore convinced that Wolsey as a professor of that faith, and a minister of that dominion, whatever might be his private opinion of its authority, felt that he must proceed with caution in his meditated attack on its foundations. He knew he was, of late, suspected to have no veneration for the apostolical see, beyond the emoluments which his submission to it furnished him; he knew, therefore, that an unqualified abolition of any of those faithful fraternities, would raise a clamor againt him, sufficient to defeat his project. The wary Cardinal first convoked an assembly of divines, as we are informed in the history of the reformation, at his own house; by whom he procured the doctrines of Luther to be solemnly condemned. This acceptable service done to the court of Rome, at once silenced suspicion, and ensured compliance. Immediately after this, he applied for his holiness's permission to suppress some of the smaller monasteries, for the purpose of erecting colleges, and endowing seminaries of useful learning, and religious education.'

Let me not be understood to mean, that it was Wolsey's design to overturn the national faith, or the ceremonies of its establishment. To a miud fond, as his was, of splendor and parade, it offered too many allurements, to be relinquished without regret ; but, if we advert to the articles of his impeachment, to the testimonies of historians respecting his moderation toward the reformers, and above all, to several letters of Wolsey's cotemporaries, addressed to Luther, and Erasmus, one must rather be determined to follow, as Wood says in his Athen. Oxon. "the traditionary reporters and credulous transcribers of narratives, dictated by envy, contempt, and hatred," than the evidence of our own senses, not to perceive that it was Wolsey's design to suppress those receptacles of corruption, the monasteries; to reform the manners of the clergy; and to annihilate that imperium in imperio, the dominion of Rome within the realm of England.'

The disgrace and miserable end of this minister and ecclesiastic, who once lived in regal splendor, and was attended by "a livery'd army and by menial Lords," have been adduced by poets and moralists as most striking proofs of the vanity of human greatness but Mr. D. speaks of him among the benefactors of Southwell, as one of the greatest of men who ever presided over this or any other church,' and sums up his general character, as 'a man in whom there was something to be blamed, more to be pitied, and most of all to be admired.'

Under

Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Archbishop Sandys is mentioned as a probable benefactor, since he resided at Southwell the greatest part of his prelacy; and memoirs of him are subjoined in a note. In reporting the local transactions during the reigns of George I. and II. the lives of the prelates Herring and Hutton are also given: but we have copied enough from the contents of this chapter. That part of the volume which relates to antiquities is of inferior interest. Mr. D. combats, with much reason, the opinion respecting the remains of an encampment in Hexgrave Park, that it belonged to the Romans but, if we accede to his negative demonstration in this particular, we see little ground to justify his surmise ‹ that Hexgrave Park is more likely to have been the temporary asylum of John and his army, or of his competitors, than a station of the Britons, Romans, Saxons, or Dancs.' however, is mentioned in a note, by which this conjecture is A discovery, said to be confirmed; viz. that the initials of King John's name, surmounted with a blunted radiated crown, have been discovered cut in solid wood, over which the bark and sap had grown to the thickness of several inches. This is stated as a fact: but is it possible that initials, cut in a growing tree six hundred years ago, should be preserved? We should rather be inclined to believe, if such letters were found on a tree in Sherwood Forest, that they were not carved by King John's soldiers, ut by some individual at a very subsequent period. We beg to caution Mr. D. against the credulity of the professed antiquary; and we trust that he will prosecute the remainder of his undertaking with that sound judgment and rational discrimination, which generally pervade the parts already executed.

Several plates and pedigrees of families are inserted in this volume; among which is the genealogical tree of the Dickinson family. We are told, p. 165, that the author's seat is called Muskham Grange, is surrounded by several hundred acres of land, and that to the house large additions have been lately made, in which spacious apartments and convenient appendages have been the principal object of attention. may be concluded that Mr. Dickinson enjoys what seldom falls Hence it to the critic's share, Otium cum dignitate.

Mo-y.