Ancient Key of Bromley Church. Keys varied in their form according to the age wherein they were made, and the purposes for which they were used. Anciently, the figure of the key of the west door of the church was put in the register. This was mostly done on the delivery of the church keys to the "ostiarii," who were officers, created with much ceremony, to whom the keys were intrusted: the bishops themselves delivered the keys, and the deacons the doors of the respective churches.* While W. drew the door of Bromley church I had ample opportunity to make measurements and look about; and I particularly noticed a capital large umbrella of old construction, which I brought out and set up in the church-yard: with its wooden handle, fixed into a movable shaft, shod with an iron point at the bottom, and struck into the ground, it stood seven feet high; the awning is of a green oiled-canvass, such as common umbrellas were made of forty years ago, and is stretched on ribs of cane. It opens to a diameter of five feet, and forms a decent and capacious covering for the minister while engaged in the burialservice at the grave. It is in every respect a more fitting exhibition than the watchbox sort of vehicle devised for the same Fosbroke's Ency. of Antiquities. purpose, and in some church-yards trundled from grave to grave, wherein the minister and clerk stand, like the ordinary of Newgate and a dying malefactor at the new drop in the Old Bailey. An unseemly thing of this description is used at St. George's in the Borough. The church of Bromley, an ancient spacious edifice with a square tower, has been much modernised, yet to the credit of the inhabitants it retains its old Norman font. It is remarkable, that it is uncertain to what saint it was dedicated: some ascribe it to St. Peter and St. Paul; others to St. Blaise; but it is certain that Browne Willis, with all his industry and erudite research, was unable to determine the point. This I affirm from a MS. memorandum before me in his hand-writing. It abounds with monuments, though none are of very old standing. There was formerly a tomb to Water de Henche, " persone de Bromleghe, 1360."* Among the mural fablets are the names of Elizabeth, wife_to "the great moralist" Dr. Johnson; Dr. Hawkesworth, a resident in Bromley, popular by his "Adventurer;" and Dr. Zachary Pearce. The latter was successively rector of St. Bartholomew's by the • Weever. Royal Exchange, vicar of St. Martin's in the Fields, dean of Winchester, bishop of Bangor, dean of Westminster, and bishop of Rochester. His principal literary labours were editorial-" Longinus de Sublimitate," ," "Cicero de Officiis," and "Cicero de Oratore." He wrote in the "Spectator," No. 572, upon "Quacks," and No. 633 upon "Eloquence;" and No. 121 in the "Guardian," signed "Ned Mum." The chief of this prelate's other works were Sermons. There is a cenotaph to him in Westminster Abbey; a distinction he was entitled to by his learning and virtues. Dr. Zachary Pearce is remarkable for having desired to resign his deanery and bishopric. In 1763, being then seventythree years old, he told his majesty in his closet that he found the business of his stations too much for him; that he was afraid it would grow more so as he advanced in years, and desired to retire, that he might spend more time in his devotions and studies. Afterwards, one of the law lords doubted the practicability of resigning a bishopric, but on further consideration the difficulty disappeared. The king then gave his consent, and the bishop kissed hands upon it; but lord Bath requesting the bishopric and deanery of the king for Dr. Newton, then bishop of Bristol, the ministry thought that no church dignities should pass from the crown but through their hands, and opposed the resignation, as the shortest way of keeping the bishopric from being disposed of otherwise than they liked. On this occasion the law lord, earl Mansfield, who had been doubtful, and who soon after had seen clear, doubted again, and Dr. Pearce was told by the king he must think no more about resigning the bishopric. In 1768 he resigned the deanery of Westminster, and wrote THE WISH. From all Decanal cares at last set free, While here on earth, thus on my bended knee, Bishop Pearce lived and laboured till June 29, 1774, when he died in the eightyfourth of his age. year There is a neat monument by Nollekens over the north gallery of the church, with a remarkable inscription :-" Sacred to the memory of Thomas Chase, Esq. formerly of this parish, born in the city of Lisbon the 1st of November, 1729; and buried under the ruins of the same house where he first saw the light in the ever-memorable and terrible earthquake which befell that city the 1st of November, 1755: when after a most wonderful escape, he by degrees recovered from a very deplorable condition, and lived till the 20th of Nov. 1788, aged 59 years." Would not suffer her to be Childless: An Infant, to whom, and to whose Father and Mother she had been Nurse (Such is the Uncertainty of temporal Prosperity) Became dependent upon Strangers for the Necessaries of Life: To him she afforded the Protection of a Mother. This parental Charity Was returned with filial Affection; And she was supported, in the Feebleness of Age, by him whom she had cherished in the Helplessness of Infancy. LET IT BE REMEMBERED, That there is no Station in which Industry will not obtain Power to be liberal, Nor any Character on which Liberality will not confer Honor. She had been long prepared, by a simple and unaffected Piety, For that awful moment, which, however delayed, Is universally sure. How few are allowed an equal Time of Probation ! How many, by their Lives, appear to presume upon more! 1 To preserve the memory of this person; and yet more, to perpetuate the lesson of her life, this stone was erected by voluntary contribution. An intelligent inhabitant of Bromley, in the year 1747, mentions a discovery, with some accompanying remarks, appropriate to the present notice : "In the year 1733, the present clerk of the parish church of Bromley in Kent, by his digging a grave in that church-yard, close to the east end of the chancel wall, dug up a funeral crown, or garland, which is most artificially wrought in fillagree work with gold and silver wire, in resemblance of myrtle, (with which plant the funebrial garlands of the ancients were composed,*) whose leaves are fastened to hoops of larger wire of iron, now something corroded with rust, but both the gold and silver remain to this time very little different from their original splendour. It was also lined with cloth of silver, a piece of which, together with part of this curious garland, I keep as a choice relic of antiquity. "Besides these crowns, (which were buried with deceased virgins,) the ancients had also their depository garlands, the use of which was continued even till of late years (and perhaps are still retained in many parts of this nation, for my own knowledge of these matters extends not above twenty or thirty miles round London,) which garlands, at the funerals of the deceased, were carried solemnly before the corpse by two maids, and afterwards hung up in some conspicuous place within the church, in memorial of the departed person, and were (at least all that I have seen) made after the following manner, viz. the lower rim or circlet was a broad hoop of wood, whereunto was fixed, at the sides thereof, part of two other hoops crossing each other at the top, at right angles, which formed the upper part, being about one-third longer than the width; these hoops were wholly covered with artificial flowers of paper, dyed horn, or silk, and more or less beauteous, according to the skill or ingenuity of the performer. In the vacancy of the inside, from Sir Thomas Brown's Misc. Tracts, p. 29. the top, bung white paper, cut in form of gloves, whereon was wrote the deceased's name, age, &c. together with long slips of various coloured paper or ribbons. These were many times intermixed with gilded or painted empty shells of blown eggs, as farther ornaments; or, it may be, as emblems of the bubbles or bitterness of this life; whilst other garlands had only a solitary hour-glass hanging therein, as a more significant symbol of mortality. "About forty years ago these garlands grew much out of repute, and were thought by many as very unbecoming decorations for so sacred a place as the church; and at the reparation or new beautifying several churches where I have been concerned, I was obliged, by order of the minister and churchwardens, to take the garlands down, and the inhabitants were strictly forbidden to hang up any more for the future. Yet notwithstanding, several people, unwilling to forsake their ancient and delightful custom, continued still the making of them, and they were carried at the funerals, as before, to the grave, and put therein upon the coffin over the face of the dead; this I have seen done in many places."* And all degrees of honours, owing all The wealth, the harvest, home of well-bought honour. Through all this revolution, Giovanni, Tis something else has wrought this violent change. Where I allow the cause. Gio. You be may angry, Madam, and chide it as a saucy pride Bell. I may therefore justly suspect there is Which I dare not in my obedience Obscure, since you will call it forth; and yet -Bell. It would ill Become my breeding, Giovanni Gio. I dare as soon question your beauty, Madam, Such very beams disperseth her bright eye, At heart, and wish myself a thing lost in C. L. JAMES THOMSON. A volume, entitled the " English Gentle man's Library Manual," contains the fol lowing remarkable anecdotes respecting the author of "The Seasons." MEMORANDA COMMUNICATED BY JAMES ROBERTSON, ESQ. OF RICHMOND, "IN SURREY, LATE SURGEON TO THE HOUSEHOLD AT KEW, OCTOBER 17, 1791, TO THOMAS PARKE, ESQ. THE POET, AND BY HIM TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN. Parke. Have you any objection, sir, to my taking down memorandums to a conversation? Robertson. Not in the least, I will procure you pen, ink, and paper immediately. I understand, sir, you knew Thomson long? I became acquainted with him in the year 1726, when he published his poem of Winter. He lived opposite to me, in Lancaster-court, in the Strand. I went to the East Indies soon after, which caused a chasm in our acquaintance; but, on my return, our intimacy was strengthened, and continued to the hour of his death. I do not know any man, living or dead, I ever esteemed more highly, and he was attached to me. I had once a complaint of a consumptive nature, which confined me much at home, and he was so good as to come often from Kew-lane to sit with me. Did you know Amanda? Know her? Yes, sir, I married her sister. Amanda was a Miss Young, daughter to captain Gilbert Young, of the Gulyhill fa mily, in Dumfriesshire, and was married afterwards to admiral Campbell. She was a fine sensible woman, and poor Thomson was desperately in love with her. Mr. Gilbert Young, her nephew, left my house this very morning. Thomson, indeed, was never wealthy enough to marry. Mr. Collins, the brewer, has told me, that he was so heedless in his money concerns, that in paying him a bill for beer, he gave him two bank notes rolled together instead of one. Collins did not perceive the mistake till he got home, and when he returned the note Thomson appeared perfectly indifferent about the matter, and said he had enough to go on without it! Mr. Robertson smiled at this anecdote, and Isaid it was like him. He was not, I believe, one of the weeping philosophers. He was no Heraclitus? No, he was not, indeed. I remember his being stopped once between London and Richmond, and robbed of his watch, and when I expressed my regret for his loss, "Pshaw, damn it," said he, "I am glad they took it from me, 'twas never good for any thing." Was he national in his affections? He had no prejudices whatever; he was the most liberal of men in all his sentiments. I have been told that he used to associate with parson Cromer, and some other convivials, at the Old Orange Tree, in Kewlane? Relaxation of any kind was to him frequently desirable, and he could conform to any company. He was benevolent and social, both in his writings and in his life; as his friend, Dr. Armstrong, said on another occasion, he practised what he preached. Lord L.'s character of him as an author was perfectly just, that in his last moments he had no cause to wish any thing blotted he had ever written. I hear he kept very late hours? No, sir, very early; he was always up at sunrise, but then he had never been in bed. Did you ever correspond with him? Very seldom. We were so much together there was little opportunity or occasion for it. You do not happen to have any reliques of his hand-writing? I don't think I have; but when I get my breath a little better I will look among my papers to try if I can find any. The kind old gentleman was warmed with the subject, and even set forward to his escritoire in the pursuit, but returned only with a letter from the late Dr. Armstrong, which he flattered himself contained something relative to Thomson. In this he was mistaken. It was a rhapsody of thanks in return for being presented with a large bottle of spirits; but it was well worth an airing. This, said Mr. R., will show you the intimate terms I was upon with Johnny Armstrong, who wrote that beautiful poem, the "Art of Preserving the Health." He was a very ingenious and excellent man. Did you know Dr. Patrick Murdoch, who wrote Thomson's Life? Ay, very well, and esteemed him. Pattie, as I always called him, had a good heart. Pope, as I have heard, used often to visit Thomson? Yes, frequently. Pope has sometimes said, Thomson, I'll walk to the end of your garden, and then set off to the bottom of Kew-foot-lane and back. Pope, sir, courted Thomson, and Thomson was always ad Was Pope a great talker? Pope, when he liked his company, was a very agreeable man. He was fond of adulation, and when he had any dislike was a most bitter satirist. Thomson, I think, was very intimate with David Mallet, the editor of Bolingbroke? Sir, that person's name was properly "Malloch;" but I used to call him "Moloch" in our festive moments, and Thomson enjoyed the jest. Sir, he had not Thom-, son's heart; he was not sound at the core; he made a cat's-paw of Thomson, and I did not like the man on that account. Thomson had two cousins or nephews, who were gardeners, did they live with him? No, they did not live with him, they lived upon him. He was so generous a man, that if he had but two eggs he would have given them both away. Were you acquainted with Mr. Gray, who lived at Richmond Hill? Yes, I knew a John Grav, who was a victualler. He purchased Thomson's collection of prints and drawings after his decease, but I believe purely out of ostentation. You must have had great influence over him, sir, from several circumstances you have mentioned, but wish to be suppressed? Without ostentation or vanity, sir, I really very often have wondered how I came to have so much, and the rest of his friends wondered too; for I do say it most sincerely, that I never could find out what made Thomson and many of these geniuses so partial to me as they appeared. Then, sir, I suspect you are the only one who could not make the discovery? Sir, I was not fishing for a compliment, I do assure you. If you had, sir, I should not have snatch ed so eagerly at your bait. I suppose you attended Thomson in a medical as well as in a social capacity? · Yes, Armstrong and myself were with him till his last moments. I was in the room with him when he died. A putrid fever carried him off in less than a week. He seemed to me to be desirous not to live, and I had reason to think that my sister-in-law was the occasion of this. He could not bear the thoughts of her being married to another. Pray did you attend his funeral? |