any part whatever of Mr. Gough's works, any communication or assistance in my power shall most readily be given.

"The interleaved copy of the British Topography,' with the plates, shall be sent in a very few days.

"I am Sir, with great respect,

"Your much obliged and very obedient servant,

J. NICHOLS."

81. The Rev. B. BANDINEL to Mr. NICHOLS. "SIR, New College, Oxford, Oct. 7, 1811. "I am happy to inform you that on Saturday last I finished the arranging of Mr. Gough's valuable bequest to the Bodleian, and intend immediately to begin upon the Catalogue. Among them I have found only one of the MSS. which you mentioned in your letter to Mr. Price, to have been forwarded here by mistake; namely the original MS. of Manning's Surrey. There are other MSS. relating to Surrey, but none with Mr. Loveday's name; if, however, you will favour me with the subject of his MS. I will search for it. As for the Letters, or Mr. Gough's Tours, &c. I find no trace whatever.

"I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

"B. BANDINEL, Sub-Librarian."

82. Mr. NICHOLS to Mr. BANDINEL.

"REV. SIR, October 14, 1811. "I have to thank you for the favour of yours of Oct. 7, and to congratulate you on having so far proceeded on your arrangement of the books, in which I hope you will find no material deficiencies. You will be able to form some judgment of the difficulty of separating in a crowded room, and in a limited time, at twelve miles distant from my own house, two libraries of such magnitude as that you have received and the one sent for sale particularly by one who is not very quick-sighted, but lame and advanced in years.

The Surrey MSS. are the property of William Bray, Esq. but may, if you please, be returned for him to me. Of that with Mr. Loveday's name I know no particulars; but Mr. Archdeacon Churton may possibly be able to describe it more minutely.

"I hope the interleaved copy of the British Topography,' with the plates, sent some months since, was duly received; and shall be glad to know to whom I am to apply for payment for that article. Have the goodness to remember me kindly to Mr. Price; and believe me to be, Sir,

"Your very obedient servant,

* Now D. D. and Principal Librarian.

J. NICHOLS."

83. Mr. BANDINEL to Mr. NICHOLS.

"SIR, New College, Oxford, Nov. 17, 1811. "I should have answered your letter much earlier, but from the absence of the Vice-Chancellor I was unable to give you an answer to the latter part of your letter respecting the interleaved copy of the British Topography.' I am happy now to inform you that the money will be paid upon your application to the Vice-Chancellor, who returned home yesterday.

"The Surrey MSS. I have carefully packed up, and shall send it this evening to the waggon office, directed to you. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

B. BANDINEL."

84. "c SIR, Bodleian Library, Feb. 5, 1814. "Having just completed a Catalogue of that most valuable Collection of Topographical publications, bequeathed to the Bodleian library by Mr. Gough, I shall feel extremely obliged if you could give me a correct extract from his will as far as it relates to his munificent bequest to us, as it is my wish to insert it in the preface. The Catalogue will be published immediately I am favoured with your answer, when I must beg leave to transmit for your acceptance a copy of it; for to whom can it with more or equal propriety be presented? except to Mrs. Gough, for whom I shall also inclose another copy, and I hope you will have the goodness to present it to her with my respects.

"I am,

Sir, your obedient servant,

B. BANDINEL."

The Right Rev. Dr. JOHN PARSONS,
BISHOP OF PETERBOROUGH.

This worthy Prelate was born in the parish of St. Aldate, in Oxford, July 6, 1761, and, at a very early age, was placed in the school belonging to the Cathedral, from which he was soon removed to that of Magdalen College.

At Wadham College, where he was admitted June 26, 1777, and elected a scholar June 30, 1780, he remained till November 29, 1785, when he became Fellow of Balliol College. On the presentation of this Society, he was instituted, in 1797, to

the livings of All Saints and St. Leonard's in Colchester. He retained them, however, but a short time: for, on the 14th of November 1798, he was chosen Master of Balliol. On the 29th of December 1807, he was admitted to the office of ViceChancellor, which he held till October 1810.

The dates of his academical degrees are, B. A. June 27, 1782; M. A. December 17, 1785; B. D. April 24, 1799; D. D. April 30, 1799.

After more than eleven years of unwearied attention to the good government of his College and of the University at large, he was promoted to the Deanery of Bristol. As this preferment was unsolicited, so did it satisfy all his desires of honour and emolument. But he was again to experience the spontaneous patronage of the Crown. On the 12th of December 1813, he was consecrated Bishop of Peterborough, an event joyfully hailed by the friends of the Established Church. How amply his subsequent conduct realized their most sanguine expectations was manifested by the grief with which the intelligence of his decease (which happened on the 12th day of March 1819) was received in the Metropolis. Statesmen, as well as Prelates, men of rank and talent, however differing from each other in their political opinions, did willing justice to his almost unerring judgment, his temperate zeal, and his inflexible integrity. In Oxford the day of his death was indeed a day of mourning. The Delegates of the Clarendon Press, who were then assembled, did not separate without recording their grateful sense of his services as a member of that Board.

The Vice-Chancellor, Heads of Houses, and Proctors, shortly after expressed a wish to pay the last sad tribute of their respect and affection by following his remains to the grave. This order was gratefully declined, in accordance with the Bishop's constant disapprobation of all unnecessary display. He was buried in the Chapel of Balliol College.

This excellent man left an afflicted widow, but no children. Of his many admirable sermons, one preached before the House of Commons on the fastday, March 20, 1811, was printed by order of the House. Another preached before "the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," was published by them in 1818.

A sketch of the character of this distinguished prelate, from the pen of the Rev. Edward Patteson, in a letter to the Right Hon. Sir William Scott (now Lord Stowell), was printed for private distribution; and it is hoped the Author will not be offended by an extract being taken from it. Certain it is that every one who rightly values the great and excellent qualities of Dr. Parsons, will read it with more than common interest.

de

"The Right Reverend John Parsons, D. D. late Bishop of Peterborough, and Master of Balliol College, in the University of Oxford, was one of those rare and remarkable men, who appear to have been born, not so much to extend the limits of any particular species of knowledge, as to promote the cultivation of good sense and right feeling in every partment of life. Of many not undistinguished persons, it is but too justly suspected that the hope of distinction alone rendered them what they were: of Dr. Parsons it may be truly affirmed, that he rose to distinction, because he would not, in any circumstances, have been other than he was. His qualities were not of a nature to be assumed, nor his system of conduct such, as the views of latent ambition could have prompted. To be useful was the great aim of his life: and the general persuasion, how eminently nature and experience had empowered him to be useful, was now fully established, when the hopes which it had raised were extinguished by his death.

Deeply and sincerely, by those who stood near to him, will his decease be lamented; but far wider

is the sphere in which it will be most permanently felt. The sorrows of private friendship will die with the passing generation; but, that the public career of the Bishop of Peterborough should have been prematurely terminated, will be regretted by every true friend to our Ecclesiastical and Civil Establishments for generations to come. In him his College has lost a second founder; the University, a reformer of its abuses, a strict enforcer of its discipline, an able champion of its privileges, and a main pillar of its reputation; the public charities, a liberal contributor, and a powerful advocate; the Church of England, a conscientious professor of its doctrines, and a temperate but firm defender of its rights; the House of Peers, a discerning, upright, and active senator; and the nation at large, a true, loyal, and sober patriot.

"It was his pecular felicity to leave, in every station which he successively filled, indelible traces both of his talents and his worth. The entire line of his progress was marked by a series of improvements, of institutions reformed, of revenues augmented, of residences restored and embellished; and all this was effected by means not less creditable to his integrity and benevolence, than to his judgment, perseverance, and energy. In his Benefices, his College, his Deanery, and his Diocese, the thought of those who might come after him, was ever present to his mind; and to their interest he often made great sacrifices of his own.

"The elevation of Dr. Parsons to the Prelacy was equally honourable to the discernment which pointed out his merit, and to the choice which acknowledged it. Conferred without solicitation, it was accepted without the forfeiture of independence; nor can any other motive be assigned for the appointment, than a just sense of his peculiar fitness both to fulfill the duties of the Episcopal office, and to sustain its dignity.