No. XVI.

THE RIGHT REV. FATHER IN GOD, WILLIAM BENNET, D.D. M.R.I.A., LORD BISHOP OF CLOYNE.

WILLIAM BENNET, a prelate of high character and estim

ation, was born in 1745, and, after some preparatory instruction, sent to Harrow-school. He was educated first under Dr. Thackeray, a name still respected, and afterwards under his worthy and learned successor Dr. Robert Sumner, a man celebrated for his various accomplishments. It was the good fortune of the subject of this memoir to be the contemporary of many celebrated men, of whom we will merely mention two:, Dr. Parr, another name for learning itself; and the late Sir William Jones, one of the most accomplished scholars of the age in which he lived. Among other accomplishments, young Jones possessed a taste for the drama, and actually composed a play, in which he introduced Bennet and Parr as two of the dramatis persona! From Harrow, Mr. Bennet was removed to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1767, and proceeded M. A. 1770; here he became, in due time, both a fellow and tutor, and distinguished himself by his compositions in Latin, as well as in English, in which he discovered not only great fluency, but a lofty taste, both in prose and verse. While residing in this college, he enjoyed the friendship of the learned antiquary Dr. Richard Farmer, who presided there, and took his degree as B. D. in 1777, and that of D.D. in 1790. Meanwhile the Earl of Westmoreland was consigned to the care of this learned and accomplished scholar, who paid every attention to the education of this young nobleman. After a series of years, his lordship became viceroy of Ireland, and was not unmindful of the

services he had received from this learned divine at Cambridge. The first instance of his gratitude was to appoint him one of his chaplains; the next to promote him, in 1790, to the united bishoprics of Cork and Ross. Soon after, in 1794, he was translated to the see of Cloyne, and resided for many years at the palace of Cloyne, in the county of Cork, the emoluments of which have been estimated at about 50001. per annum, a sum, small indeed, when compared to some of the rich episcopal preferments in Ireland, but fully adequate to all the wishes of an unambitious and unexpensive prelate.

In 1791 Dr. Bennet married into the family of a respectable clergyman: Frances, daughter of the Rev. Nathaniel Mapletoft, of Boughton, in the county of Northampton, by Anne Maria, only daughter of Charles, fifth Viscount Cullen, who still survives, but by whom he had no children.

It has already been observed, that the Bishop of Cloyne was educated in the vicinity of London, and, indeed, he was so particularly attached to England, that it is greatly to be lamented he had not been translated to a see in this country. The last few years of his life were passed in the metropolis; but this worthy prelate did not spend his time in ease or luxury, for he became a warm patron of all the numerous charitable institutions in the capital; and is supposed to have shortened his life by preaching, while in a very debilitated state of health, at St. Michael's, Cornhill, in consequence of a promise previously given.

Dr. Bennet was not only a member of the Society of Antiquarians, but also very eminently skilled in the antiquities of this country. Nor did he confine his knowledge of the Roman roads in England, to papers transmitted to the institution of which he became a distinguished member in 1790, but communicated much useful information to Mr. Nichols, for his "History of Leicestershire," and also to the Rev. Mr. Polwhele, for his "History of Cornwall."

The Bishop of Cloyne was subject to the gout, and is supposed to have become its victim, in consequence of his consti

His lordship died at his house in Montague-square, July 16, 1820, in the 75th year of his age, greatly lamented by all, not only as a worthy, but an exemplary prelate. Here follows an eulogium on this worthy Bishop, written in 1795, by his school-fellow, Dr. Parr, who, in 1792, had already characterised him as "the most amiable man, and most accomplished scholar:"

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Among the Fellows of Emmanuel College who endeavoured to shake Mr. Homer's resolution, and to preserve for him his academical rank, there was one man, whom I cannot remember without feeling that all my inclination to commend, and all my talents for commendation, are disproportionate to his merit. From habits not only of close intimacy, but of early and uninterrupted friendship, I can say, that there is scarcely one Greek or Roman author of eminence, in verse or prose, whose writings are not familiar to him. He is equally successful in combating the difficulties of the most obscure, and catching, at a glance, the beauties of the most elegant. Though I could mention two or three persons who have made a greater proficiency than my friend in philosophical learning, yet, after surveying all the intellectual endowments of all my literary acquaintance, I cannot name the man whose taste seems to me more correct and more pure, or whose judgment upon any composition in Greek, Latin, or English, would carry with it higher authority to my mind.

"To those discourses which, when delivered before an academical audience, captivated the young and interested the old; which were argumentative without formality, and brilliant without gaudiness; and in which the happiest selection of topics was united with the most luminous arrangement of matter, it cannot be unsafe for me to pay the tribute of my praise, because every hearer was an admirer, and every admirer will be a witness. As a tutor, he was unwearied in the instruction, liberal in the government, and anxious for the welfare, of all who were entrusted to his care.

The

were the more endearing, because they were united with qualities of a higher order; because in morals he was correct without moroseness, and because in religion he was serious without bigotry. From the retirement of a college he stepped at once into the circle of a court; but he has not been dazzled by its glare, nor tainted by its corruptions. As a prelate, he does honour to the gratitude of a patron who was once his pupil, and to the dignity of a station where, in his wise and honest judgment upon things, great duties are connected with great emoluments. If, from general description, I were permitted to descend to particular detail, I should say, that in one instance he exhibited a noble proof of generosity, by refusing to accept the legal and customary profits of his office from a peasantry bending down under the weight of indigence and exaction. I should say, that, upon another occasion, he did not suffer himself to be irritated by perverse and audacious opposition; but, blending mercy with justice, spared a misguided father for the sake of a distressed dependent family, and provided, at the same time, for the instruction of a large and populous parish, without pushing to extremes his episcopal rights when invaded, and his episcopal power when defied. While the English universities produce such scholars, they will indeed deserve to be considered as the nurseries of learning and virtue. While the church of Ireland is adorned by such prelates, it cannot have much to fear from that spirit of restless discontent and excessive refinement which has lately gone abroad. It will be instrumental to the best purposes by the best means. It will gain fresh security and fresh lustre from the support of wise and good men. It will promote the noblest interests of society, and uphold, in this day of peril, the sacred cause of true religion.

"Sweet is the refreshment afforded to my soul by the remembrance of such a scholar, such a man, and such a friend,

THIS

HIS singular and accomplished man was born in one of the northern counties, in 1751. He was the son of Dr. Francis Topham, Master of the Faculties, and Judge of the Prerogative Court at York, who was grossly attacked by Sterne, in his first publication, "The Adventures of a Watch Coat." The gentleman of whom we now treat, received a most liberal education, first at Eton, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge. On leaving the university, young Topham determined to adopt the army as a profession. He accordingly obtained a commission in the horse-guards, in which corps he became, first, adjutant, and afterwards a fieldofficer. He was always fond of associating with eminent men, and counted the celebrated John Wilkes, and the eccentric Mr. Elwes, among his friends. Of the latter, he composed and published one of the best short biographies that our