I L sett; Rev. William Fonnereau, of Christ Church, Ipswich; Rev. Charles Haynes; and the Rev. James Coyte, Minister of St. Nicholas in Ipswich. Of each of these individuals a brief notice is appended in the concluding note*. VII. OBADIAH, the youngest son, was born in 1731, and was for many years an eminent merchant at Leeds, in which town he died about the year 1790. He left two daughters, who resided with their uncle, Dr. Benjamin Dawson, for some years previous to his decease. *The Rev. WILLIAM LAYTON is a native of Sproughton in Suffolk, and received the rudiments of his education, first, at Richmond in Yorkshire, and afterwards at St. Paul's-school, London, then under the judicious superintendence of that very able and accomplished scholar, George Thicknesse, Esq. From thence he was removed to Trinity-college, Cambridge, where he proceeded to the degree of A. B. in 1773, and to that of A. M. in 1776. In 1774 he was licensed, on the nomination of George William the second Earl of Bristol, to the Perpetual Curacy of Playford in Suffolk; and in the following year was presented by the Crown to the Rectory of Helmley in the same county, and to that of St. Matthew in Ipswich. The pages of these "Illustrations," as well as those of the "Literary Anecdotes," are enriched with many of this gentleman's valuable and judicious remarks; and his name is honourably recorded by the late Mr. Nichols in his advertisement to the Eighth Volume of the "Anecdotes ;" and in his preface to the Fourth of this Work, as "one of those friends and excellent correspondents to whom he returns his sincere acknowledgments for continued assistance, and to whom his warmest thanks are particularly offered." In the advertisement to the First Volume of this Work, the Editor acknowledges his "having been favoured by his worthy and intelligent friend, the Rev. William Layton, with the Memoirs of Mr. Midgley and Mr. Archdeacon Pearson, and the portrait of Mr. Midgley," which appeared in that volume. "Fortunate Senex! ergo tua vita recedit, Et tibi longa satis, quia non sine laude peracta. The REV. GEORGE ROGERS, a venerable and liberal-minded di vine, was a native of St. Edmund's Bury in Suffolk, and received the rudiments of his education at the Free Grammar School in that town, then under the superintendence of that accomplished scholar the Rev. Robert Garnham, A. M. From thence he was removed to Trinity-college, Cambridge, of which Society, on proceeding to the degree of A. B. in 1764, he was elected a Fellow. In 1767 he proceeded to that of A. M. In 1766 he was presented by Sir Charles Davers, Bart. to the Rectory of Welnetham Parva, which he resigned, on the presentation by the same patron, to that of Horningsheath in 1767. In 1784 he was presented by Frederick the fourth Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry, to the Rectory of Sproughton, when he relinquished that of Horningsheath. Mr. Rogers is known to the literary world by the following publications, viz. "The Place, Object, and Nature of Christian Worship considered, in a Sermon, preached at the Archdeacon's Visitation, April 23, 1790, in the Parish Church of St. Mary at Tower, Ipswich." 8vo.; and "Five Sermons on the following subjects, viz. The true Nature of the Christian Church, and the Impossibility of its being in danger. The Scripture idea of Heresy. Mysteries made plain. The Scriptural Doctrine of Atonement. The Place, Object, and Manner of Christian Worship. Lond. 1818." 12mo. In 180.. he edited the Sermons of his intimate friend the Rev. Edward Evanson, in two volumes octavo, to which he prefixed a short but well-written memoir of the author. The Rev. JOHN HIGGS was a native of London, and received the early part of his education at the College School of St. Peter's, Westminster. From thence he was elected to Trinitycollege, Cambridge, where he proceeded to the degree of A.B. in 1750; to that of A. M. in 1754; and to that of S. T. B. in 1768. In 1752 he was elected a Fellow of his Society, as the Senior Westminster of his year, together with Dr. Spencer Madan, successively Bishop of Bristol and Peterborough, the celebrated Mr. Richard Cumberland, and Mr. John Ord, afterwards one of the Masters in Chancery. In 1780 he was presented by the College to the Rectory of Grundesburgh in Suffolk; a preferment at that period tenable with his Fellowship, and on which he constantly resided till his decease, which took place on the 6th of October 1816, in the 89th year of his age. Mr. Higgs was for many years a Senior, and most probably for some time previous to his death the oldest Member, of the College. Throughout life he was on terins of the strictest intimacy with many of his celebrated contemporaries at Trinity, viz. Dr. John Hinchliffe and Dr. Spencer Madan, successively Bishops of Peterborough; and Dr. Richard Watson, Bishop of Landaff. He possessed an extensive and valuable collection of engravings by the old masters, principally proofs, which he had selected with 1 much taste and judgment; these were dispersed by public auction on the 24th of March 1817, and produced very large prices. His remains were interred in the chancel of the Church of Grundesburgh, where, on a mural tablet against the south wall, is the following inscription to his memory: M. S. JOHANNIS HIGGS, S.T. B. hujusce ecclesiæ per Annos xxxvi Rectoris, qui propter morum facilitatem et animi candorem omnibus acceptissimus et publicas et privatas vitæ partes egregiè sustinuit. mox in ordinem Sociorum ejusdem cooptatus, The late Mr. Cumberland, who was contemporary with Mr. Higgs both at school and at college, and with whom he ever continued through life on terms of the strictest friendship, thus feelingly delineates the virtues and character of his friend, in his own "Memoirs written by himself:—” "The Senior Westminster of my year, and joint candidate with me for a Fellowship at this time, was John Higgs, now Rector of Grundesburgh in Suffolk, and a Senior Fellow of Trinity-college; a man, who, when I last visited him, enjoyed all the vigour of mind and body in a green old age, the result of good humour and the reward of temperance. We have spun out mutually a long measure of uninterrupted friendship, he in peace throughout, and I at times in perplexity; and if I survive to complete these Memoirs, and he to read this page, I desire he will receive it as a testimony of my unaltered regard for him through life, and the bequest of my last good wishes at the close of it.' Whilst resident in town, as Private Secretary to the Earl Halifax, then first Lord of Trade and Plantations, Mr. CumberJand details the kind attentions of his friend in the following affectionate terms: "I read and work incessantly, and should have been in absolute solitude but for the kind visits of my friend Higgs, who, not forgetting our late intimacy at college and at school, nor disdaining my poor fare and dull society, cheered and relieved my spirits with the liveliness and hilarity natural to him; these are favours I can never forget, for they supported met at times when I felt all the gloominess of my situation, and yet wanted energy to extricate myself from it, and renounce those expectations to which I had devoted so much time in profitless dependence." In the "Supplement" to his " Memoirs," Mr. Cumberland again reverts to his old and intimate friend, "As I now (1807) find myself once more under the hospitable roof of my old friend Mr. Higgs, I am likely to wind up this Supplement of my Memoirs in the very spot, where, fifteen years ago, I concluded my Poem of Calvary. This companion of my youth, though far advanced into the vale of years, is still enjoying the reward of temperance, a sound mind in a healthful body. He performs all the duties of a parish priest in an exemplary manner, executes the laborious office of an acting Justice of the Peace with that of a director of the poor-house, established at Nacton in this county of Suffolk. When I fell ill at Ramsgate, and he was made acquainted with my situation, he wrote a letter, that convinced me his affection had suffered no abatement by the lapse of years since I had seen him, and he took a journey of a hundred and forty iniles to visit me in my convalescence. He was of the same year with me at Trinity, and we have not a Senior to us in the College now living." The Rev. WILLIAM TALBOT was a native of Bedfordshire, and was born on the 15th of Jan. 1720. In 1738 he was entered a Pensioner of Clare-hall, Cambridge, where he proceeded to the degree of A. B. in 1742, and to that of A. M. in 1746. In 1744 he was elected a Fellow of his Society. In 1766 he was presented by the College to the Rectory of Elmset in Suffolk; in 1768 to that of Teversham near Cambridge, by the Bishop of Ely; and in 17.. was installed Chancellor of the Church of Salisbury. He married Miss Mary Kirke, one of the executors to Dr. John Newcome, Master of St. John's college, Cambridge, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, and Dean of Rochester, with whom, after the decease of his wife, she resided, and to whom he bequeathed a large portion of his fortune *. Mr. Talbot deceased on the 25th of November 1811, having survived his wife six years, and was interred in the Chancel of the Church of Elmsett, where, on a flat-stone, is this inscription to their memories : In Memory of Mary Talbot, wife of the Rev. WILLIAM TALBOT, she died 8th November 1805, aged 78 years. *See "Literary Anecdotes," vol. I. p. 564. Also Sacred to the Memory of the above Rev. WILLIAM TALBOT, M. A. and died November the 25th 1811, Cole, in his MS. Collections, describes Mr. Talbot "as a very little thin man; and says that he "was a candidate for the Mastership of Clare-hall against Dr. Goddard; was born in Bedfordshire, and bred among the Dissenters." At the time of his death, Mr. Talbot was the oldest incumbent in the Dioceses of Norfolk and Ely; and the oldest member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. A mural tablet has been since erected to his memory, with the following curious inscription: "Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. WILLIAM TALBOT, M. A. "Extract from his last Will and Testament. "I desire that my executors will place a mural tablet against the wall within the Church of Elmsett, where it may be most easily seen, and the inscription upon it best read; and that there be inscribed thereon my name and age, and the day of my death; and my earnest and most affectionate exhortation to my beloved parishioners to be unceasing in their prayers for the grace of God, to enable them to prepare themselves, through the merits of our blessed Redeemer, for a happy immortality, and particularly recommending to the young people to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, a practice that will secure their comfort here and their happiness hereafter; and that it be expressed upon the tablet, that I earnestly beg the parishioners of Elmsett will read the inscription every time they go into the Church, that so I may hope to be as useful to them when I am dead as I have endeavoured to be in my life-time; and that one speaking to them as it were from the dead, they may repent." "In pursuance of the above direction this tablet was erected by Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, and George Brooks, Esq. the executors; by whom it is earnestly requested and confidently hoped, that the future Rectors and Churchwardens of the parish of Elmsett for the time being will endeavour to promote and perpetuate the excellent design of this pious and exemplary pas |