195 REV. WILLIAM CHAFIN, M. A. The following lively piece of Autobiography was written purposely with the view to its posthumous publication in this Work by a highly respectable old gentleman of Dorsetshire, who, although a clergyman by profession, perhaps partook more of the character of a country squire. "A Short and Imperfect Sketch of the Life of William Chafin, Clerk, written by himself from memory alone in the year 1816." I was born, as appeareth by the Parish-register of Chettle (which is as old, I believe, as any register can be, having its beginning in the year 1538, and in good preservation) on the first day of February 1732-3, and was the eleventh child which my mother had borne, three of whom only were alive at the time of my birth, one son and two daughters, the youngest of which was nine years old. My fathert, who attributed the loss of so many children to the too tender nursing of them in their infancy, was determined that a different course should be taken with me; and I was baptised the day after my birth by the Rev. William Box, Rector of Cheselbourne in the county of Dorset, who happened to be on a visit to my father at that time, and after * The circumstances will be learned from the Correspondence, printed hereafter. † To his parents and elder brother Mr. Chafin erected a mural monument in Chettle Church in 1777, bearing the following inscription: "In memory of George Chafin, Esq. who, for his great popularity, had the honour of representing the County of Dorset in Parliament forty years. He died September 7, 1766, aged 77. And of Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Anthony She died Aug. 23, Sturt, by whom he had eleven children. 1762, aged 72. And also of George their eldest son, Lieut.-Colonel of the Dorsetshire regiment, who died much lamented, June 30, 1776, aged 59." William Box, M. A. was instituted to Cheselbourne in 1733 the ceremony, I was immediately conveyed to the cottage of my father's shepherd in the village, to be nurtured by his wife, who, fortunately for me, was in the same situation as my mother. The sponsors at my baptism (represented by proxies). were Mr. Banks, of Milton Abbas, Sir William Napier, of Critchill in the county of Dorset, and Miss Penruddock, of Compton Chamberlain in the county of Wilts, who was afterward married to Henry Wyndham, Esq. of the Close, Sarum, and she was the mother of the present Penruddock Wyndham, Esq. of that place, who was many years Representative of the county of Wilts, and an author of great celebrity. She was also the mother of Lady A'Court, a descendant, as well as myself, of Colonel John Penruddock, who was beheaded; and who was my great-grandfather. I remained in this cottage under the care of the good inhabitants, and was fed with their fare, until I was nearly five years of age, without once sleeping in my father's house. As soon as I was able to crawl about, I was carried to the sheep-fold by the shepherd every morning even in the depth of winter, by which a foundation was laid for that strength of constitution which has carried me through eightyfive summers and winters without being in any way greatly impaired. When nearly five years old, I was taken from the shepherd's cottage to a small school at Blandford, two years after the dreadful fire which consumed the greater part of the town. The school was at that time kept by the Rev. Mr. Hare, who, before one year, was elected Master of a well-endowed school at Crewkerne in Somersetshire, and left Blandford. He translated the Odes. of Horace; and his version, I believe, was received with merited applause *. by George Chafin and Morton Pleydell, Esqs. and died Dec. 28, 1749. * In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1755, p. 9, is a letter from As my parents were unwilling to have me so far from them, I was, by the desire of Mr. Banks, my godfather, removed to Abbey Milton school; but, unfortunately, not only for me (who was insensible to such a loss) but to the whole county of Dorset, this most amiable, popular, and accomplished gentleman, in his very prime, beloved by every one who knew him, lost his life before I was admitted at the school. He went to London to attend Parliament; called in his way on his most intimate friends, my father and mother, and slept at Chettle in perfect health. When he arrived in London, he found himself a little indisposed from his journey, in very severe weather, and sent for a surgeon of his acquaintance to take a little blood from him, who was adverse to the operation at so late an hour, but, at the most earnest desire of the patient, it was performed, the arm bound up, and he went immediately to his bed, but the next morning his servant found him dead in the bed; the bandage had got loose in the night, the orifice opened, and he had bled to death; probably it was an easy one, and only a prolongation of a gentle sleep. The account given of this fatal event in the History of the County of Dorset, that he died from a polypus of the heart, is certainly I was at that time about four years of age; and my mother had taken me in the coach with her on a short visit to her sister, the wife of Mr. Sergeant Hussey, at Edmondesham, about six miles from Chettle, who was afterward appointed a Judge, but died before he possessed that dignity. erroneous. this Gentleman, whose Christian name was Thomas, and who then dated from Crewkerne. The subject of his communication was to point out the probability of the Chinese Empire being Antichrist; and this strange hypothesis is rebutted by two answers at pp. 71, 72; the writer of the latter of which humourously and ingeniously shows, that the flexible "number of the beast" might be found both in the name of " Thomas Hare," and that of his residence "Crewkerne," when they were spelt in Hebrew letters! On our return home, before we had quitted the coach, a servant of Mr. Banks, who had come express from London, delivered the melancholy tidings of his master's death, exactly in the manner I have mentioned. My mother was taken from the carriage in a fainting fit, and carried into the house, and I was conveyed to the shepherd's cottage; but it made such an impression on my tender mind as never to be forgotten. I remained at Abbey Milton-school, which was then kept by the Rev. James Martin*, for nine years. In the fifteenth year of my age, I was taken home to my father's house, a poor, raw, ignorant youth, not having acquired any classical knowledge whatever, whether owing to dullness of parts, or want of a proper mode of instruction, I know not, but such was the fact; and, to add to these deficiencies, I was kept at home one whole year, which was spent in following sports of the field, and no school-book was looked into the whole time; thus a year was lost at the most critical time of my life. I was then sent to Emanuel-college, Cambridge, at the recommendation of Sir John Cotton, of Madingley, near Cambridge, an intimate friend of my father, and a near relation of mine by my mother's side, Sir John and my mother being grandchildren of Alderman Parsons, the greatest brewer of porter in London in those days; who, when he was Lord Mayor, at his great City feast had twenty sons. and daughters grown up, sitting at the table with him, of which no doubt he was not a little proud. But such is the mutability of human affairs, that not one male heir of the family of the name of Parsons is now in existence. When I came to Emanuel-college, I was the most fortunate of all youths that ever entered College, for I fell into the very best of hands. Dr. Richardson * He was appointed Master by Sir William Napier and other feoffees in 1737; and died in 1757. was the Master, the good and worthy Mr. Hubbard first College-tutor, Mr. Bickham second, and the most amiable of all men, Mr. Hurd, was the Dean, and it was my happy fate to come under his examination for admittance into the College books. He immediately discovered my insufficiencies, and took compassion upon me, and made the most favourable report he could possibly do to the Society, and I was admitted; at the same time he desired me to come to his rooms every morning for half an hour after breakfast until Mr. Hubbard's public Lectures began. What the good Mr. Hurd discerned in me I know not, but I was countenanced by him in the kindest manner during the whole time of my residence in College, which was seven years. By his kind assistance, which I diligently attended to both from gratitude as well as inclination, I was enabled to attend Mr. Hubbard's Lectures without cutting any despicable figure in the lecture-room; and in course of a short time I was frequently called upon by my good tutor to construe some book in the classical order when my companions could not. But besides these great helps, I had the advantage of being known to Mr. Barford, then a Fellow of King's-college, a friend of my father, of a Dorsetshire family, and who had known me from my infancy. Mr. Barford was afterward Chaplain of the House of Commons, Rector of Fordingbridge, Hants, and a dignitary in the Church *. He introduced me to the good and learned Dr. Glynn, an eminent physician, a Fellow of King's also †. These gentlemen were very indulgent to me; I was invited to their rooms two or three times each week to an afternoon tea-drinking, when they examined ine respecting my College exercises, and gave me, in * See an ample memoir of William Barford, D. D. who died a Prebendary of Canterbury, in the "Literary Anecdotes," vol. IX. p. 576. + Of Dr. Glynn Clobery see the "Literary Anecdotes," VIII. 211. |