Puslapio vaizdai
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the transformation of the sisters of Phaeton into Poplars; and the fiction seems to wear almost the appearance of reality, from the number of those trees that still flourish on the banks of the Po in Italy, in the vicinity of the ancient Eridanus, into which the ambitious charioteer is said to have been precipitated by Jupiter. The Poplar, like other trees of the aquatic tribe, copiously exudes the moisture which it imbibes; insomuch that in hot calm weather, its foliage, like that of the Willow, is additionally graceful from the drops of water that hang upon its leaves, with the refreshing coolness of a summer shower; and which, to a poetical imagination, like that of Ovid, affords a lively picture of the tears of Phaeton's sisters for his loss, completing the beauty of the story which relates their metamorphosis.

The Abbot's Willow is of the species termed by botanists Salix Alba, and is probably for size and age unequalled in the kingdom. It stands in the grounds of the late John Benjafield, Esq., at Bury St. Edmund's, on a part of the ancient demesne of the Abbot of Bury, and which was in the actual possession of the Monastery, at the time of its dissolution.

The author of that most pleasing work intitled "The Journal of a Naturalist," observes that "the Willow is so universally subjected to pollarding, that probably few persons have ever seen a willow tree. At any rate, a sight of one grown unmutilated from the root is a rare occurrence. The few that I have seen constituted trees of great beauty." One, in particular in the meadows on the right of the Spa House at Gloucester, he remarks, is so healthy and finely grown, that it deserves every attention, and should be persevered as a unique specimen.

From the uncommon size of this tree, and its being called "The Abbot," conjecture may lead us to suppose that it was planted previously to the dispersion of the members of the farfamed and splendid monastery, which took place in the reign of Henry VIII. Of this, however, there is no certain proof; but its vast dimensions plainly indicate it to have been the growth of centuries. Notwithstanding the great space its spreading

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branches occupy, it has hitherto suffered but little, either from wind or time, nor does it at present exhibit any symptoms of decay. The soil around is certainly of a nature genial to this class of aquatic trees; for which, as Evelyn observes, a bank at a foot distance from the water, is kinder than a bog, or to be altogether immersed in the water; "for they love not to wet their feet," and last longer for being kept moderately dry: nevertheless, the Abbot's Willow may owe some of its freshness and vigour to a part of its roots communicating with the bed of a small adjoining river, the Lark, on whose bank it stands, in the vicinity of the Botanic Garden: an establishment to which the town and neighbourhood of Bury St. Edmund's are indebted for some of the most elegant and instructive of their recreations, through the exertions of Nathaniel Hodson, Esq., its proprietor; a gentleman whose diligent research in botanical science, and general taste in all branches of natural history, are already well known to the public.

The measurements of this tree, as taken by Mr. Lenny, an able and accurate surveyor at Bury, are as follows: its height is seventy-five feet the circumference of the stem eighteen feet six inches. The two principal limbs are fifteen and twelve feet in circumference; the ambitus of the boughs is two hundred and four feet; and it contains four hundred and forty feet of solid timber."

We have now like a good cicerone, familiarly shewn the reader what yet remains of this celebrated monastery, and we leave him to his reflections. We have mentioned the only tangible memorials that tell of its existence, which time has spared. May we not ask where are now its shrines and altars, its monarch Priests and imperial Abbots-its edicts, its fulminations of temporal ruin and ghostly perdition? They are passed away for ever, and these ivied walls, crusted with age, and nodding to an oblivious fall, silently attest that the remembrance of man shall not pass down to posterity by the magnificence of palaces, but by his deeds alone.

The scite occupied by the convent, with the precincts, were

granted by Elizabeth, upon Feb. 14th, 1560, to John Eyer, Esq., in consideration of the sum of £412. 19s. 4d. The scite of the monastery was stated to contain a messuage, or mansion, the dorter court, two edifices called garners, the stables, hay loft, gate-house, the great court containing four acres, the palace garden and different lands adjoining. Within a month it passed to Thomas Badby. Since Badby's possession, it has known many masters, and has become divided. The spot on which stood the Abbots' palace, is now in the hands of the Marquis of Bristol.

DAVID HARTLEY.

THIS great philosopher and eminent physician, claims from us a short notice, not as a native of Suffolk, but as having for a time made Bury St. Edmund's his place of residence. He was the son of a clergyman at Armley, in Yorkshire, and originally intended to follow his father's profession, but having some scruples respecting the thirty-nine articles, relinquished his design, and directed his attention to medical pursuits. It may appear strange that these studies should have been more favourable to his peace of mind, and the cultivation of those religious propensities with which he may be said to have been gifted by nature rather than theology, yet so the event proved. Hartley, was a philosopher of a very speculative turn, and the principles laid down in his celebrated work, "Observations on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations," being supposed to favour materialism, he would probably as a clergyman, have been exposed to animadversion and attack, particularly painful to his gentle and kindly spirit. The opinions of a physician however, if not quite orthodox, influence but a limited portion of the community, and may be permitted to take their chance

of final acceptance or rejection. Hartley did not expect to reap profit, or honour from his philosophy during his life, but repaid himself with the hopes that future generations would appreciate his labours, and adopt his principles. A pleasing hope, but vain as pleasing. Nearly a century has passed away, and Hartley's "Theory," still remains unnoticed but by a few of the learned who read it for the gratification of a literary curiosity, and who cannot but regret that talent so great, should have been employed on a speculation so profitless. Dr. Priestley availed himself of Hartley's labours to support his doctrine of materialism, a doctrine wholly repugnant to Hartley's mind, though the tendency of his writings to that conclusion cannot be denied.

In the pursuit of general knowledge, Dr. Hartley was indefatigable, and lived on terms of intimacy with most of the learned men of his age. Among his friends, were numbered many of the Bishops, whose liberal ideas and enlarged views of science, subjected them to the usual fate of those, who advance beyond their contemporaries. Posterity is doing them tardy justice, and their works long condemned, are now being produced to claim their due meed of praise.

The third edition of the Observations on Man, was published by David Hartley the younger, son of the subject of the present sketch in 1791, accompanied by a memoir of the author's life.

Another edition has also been given to the world, within the last two or three years, and has met with a ready sale. Hartley died at Bath, 1787, deservedly lamented by a large circle of friends.

BISHOP GARDINER.

THE town of Bury, claims the honour of being the birth-place

of Stephen Gardiner, of persecuting memory. He was said to be the illegitimate son of Lionel Woodville or Wydville, Dean of Exeter, and Bishop of Salisbury.

Doubts have been thrown upon this statement, from some expressions used in a manuscript, in the Bodleian library, from which he appears to be the younger son of Sir Thomas Gardiner, one of an ancient family, in Lancashire. The circumstance however of his being in early life, called Dr. Stephens, seems to favour the former opinion, and perhaps what may be considered the negative testimony of the silence of history respecting his parents, and his total neglect of his native town, may have weight in determining the question.

Gardiner was born in the year 1483. His reputed father, though of low origin, appears to have acted a parent's part by him; as we find Gardiner, after a suitable school education, placed at Trinity Hall Cambridge. Here he soon distinguished himself by his talents, and particularly by his proficiency in Latin and Greek. He entered the Church, probably at the instigation of the Bishop of Salisbury, who might think to aid him in his views of church preferment, with less chance of betraying the real nature of the connexion between them. Though he had been elected master of the college, he accepted a situation in the family of the Duke of Norfolk, where he was introduced to Cardinal Wolsey, who made him his private secretary. He had now entered on a line of life more suited to his taste than the unostentatious one of a Clergyman, and we see him turning to the best account, his knowledge of human nature and versatile talents. Having been employed by the Cardinal to draw up the articles of the treaty of alliance between Francis 1st, of France, and Henry 8th, the latter became acquainted with his merits, of which not the smallest in Henry's eyes was Gardiner's laxness of principles and fertility in the invention of expedients. An opportunity soon offered of testing the abilities of the new favourite, for Henry being anxious to obtain a divorce from his wife Catherine of Arragon, dispatched Gardiner to Rome, in order to negotiate the business. In this he succeeded

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