CAP. V.

Determines the number of persons to be maintained in the Cathedral Church of Durham, who are required to be a Dean, 12 Canons, 12 Minor Canons, a Deacon and Sub-deacon, 10 clerks who may be either Priests or Laymen, a Master of the Choristers, 10 Choristers, 2 Grammar Masters, 18 Grammar Scholars, 8 Almsmen, &c.

C. XXVII.

OF THE CHORISTERS AND THEIR Master. "We ordain that in the said Church there be 10 Choristers, boys of tender age and good voice, with a taste for music; who shall serve, minister, and sing in the Choir.

"To guide them in moral conduct, and to instruct them in the art of sing. ing, (exclusive of the 10 Clerks before mentioned) one shall be chosen of unblemished life and reputation, and a proficient in singing and organ-playing, who shall be carefully occupied in teaching the boys to sing in the Church service, and to play upon the organ.

"And that he may the more diligently apply himself to the duty of instructing and superintending the boys," he is permitted to employ a deputy at the organ, except on Sundays and Festivals.

"Let him also have a watchful care over the health of the boys, whom we commend to his fidelity and industry, in respect to their literature, their commons and their board, their education and rudiments of liberal knowledge+; unless the Dean shall judge this to be inconvenient or detrimental to the boys, or to any of them.

"Should he be found idle or negligent in teaching the boys, or in considerate and watchful attention to their health and proper education, let him, after the third admonition, be deposed from his office.

"Which said Master of the Choristers shall also be sworn faithfully in his own person, to perform the duties of his

office."

C. XXVIII. OF THE GRAMMAR SCHOLARS AND THEIR INSTRUCTORS.

"That Piety and Literature may for ever flourish and increase in our Church, and in due time bring forth fruit to the glory of GoD and the honour and service of the Commonwealth, we decree and ordain, that in our Church of Durham 18 poor friendless boys of good capacity,

of Durham, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury.

+ Prospiciat etiam puerorum saluti: quorum, et in literis, et in mensa, et in convictu, educationem, et liberalem institutionem, illius fidei et industriæ committimus.

be always maintained out of the possessions of our Church.

"Whom moreover we would not have admitted among the poor scholars of our Church, before they are able to read and write, and are moderately acquainted with the first rudiments of Grammar, according to the judgment of the Dean

"And we require that these boys be maintained at the expence of our Church till they shall have attained a competent knowledge of Latin Grammar, and have learned to speak and to write Latin, for which purpose four years shall be allowed, or by the permission of the Dean, five years and no more.

"We also decree that no one be admitted to a poor scholarship of this Church, who shall exceed 15 years of age. The Choristers, however, of the said Church, though exceeding 15 years of age, we allow to be admitted as scholars. And if they are duly qualified, and have made good proficiency in music, and have faithfully served in the Choir, we ordain that they shall be chosen in preference to others."

The Statute, after enjoining that dull and idle boys shall not be suffered to loiter unprofitably among the rest, proceeds thus:

"Further, we ordain, that an experienced instructor be chosen, one of good reputation, orthodox faith, and religious life; learned in the Greek and Latin languages, who shall teach freely not only those 18 boys belonging to the Church, but all others resorting to our Grammar School, and shall cultivate and adorn their minds with piety and literature *.

"Another person shall be chosen of good reputation, orthodox faith, and religious life, acquainted with the Latin language, and an able instructor, who, under the High Master, shall teach the boys the first rudiments of Grammar.

"And we require that these Masters faithfully and diligently instruct the boys according to such regulations and mode of tuition as the Dean, with the assent of the Bishop, shall prescribe. If they. be found slothful or negligent or incapable of teaching, let them after the third admonition be removed from their charge. Let them also be sworn faithfully to perform the duties appertaining to their office."

* Statuimus præterea, ut unus eligatur, Latine et Græce doctus, bonæ famæ, sanæ fidei, et vitæ piæ, docendi facultate imbutus, qui tam illos 18 Ecclesiæ pueros, quam alios quoscunque Grammaticam discendi gratia ad scholam nostram confluentes, pietate excolat et bonis literis exornet.

Mr.

V

Mr. URBAN, Crewkerne, May 13. ARIOUS are the conjectures on the origin of the name of Merston, now called Marston, the village I herewith submit to your notice.

The most probable surmise I feel inclined to follow is from Mear, or Mere, probably a Saxon possessor; or from its Mere-like appearance during the winter months, when the waters collect here to a great extent, and where also they remain for some time, during which they have the visional effect of large beautiful lakes, or Meres, as the Shropshire and Cheshire Meres...

In these two Counties we frequently find villages having names concording with the first particle of this conjunctional word, such as Mearton, now corrupted to Marton, and again Meredon, now called Marden. These villages are generally near large standing waters, or in such situations as receive the land floods,, and retain them a long time. It could not, I should suppose, receive its etymology from the Saxon (mypa) or mire, an ant, or at least an anty situation, that humble diligent insect being comnonly partial to dry elevated soils; nor could it possibly, as some have imagined, have its descent from(Mare), being at least twenty-three miles from the English Channel, and rather more from the Bristol; but, as this circum stance is of no very considerable moment to the present subject, we will decline further observations, that can only be offered as an hypothesis immediately resulting from fanciful ideas.

The parish of Marston Magna, in the County of Somerset, receives its additional name by way of distinction from Little Marston, a village North of this place: the situation of both is in a low flat country, shaded in the summer months from the scorching rays of the sun by a thick dark foliage of stately elms, orchards, and ornamental forest-trees, that afford the same friendly protection from the frigid North atmosphere during winter.

It is distant about four miles from the celebrated Cadbury, or probably Cerdic, Hill, in the Saxon history of our country famous for the defeat of Baldulph and Colgrin, who, after a second struggle for victory, flushed with the succour of new forces under

GENT. MAG. August, 1818.

In fact, this generous soil yields to no other in the kingdom for fertility, variety, and quality, that support the demands of life and exhilarate the heart of man.

The Church (see Plate I.) in the centre of the village is a plain neat building of freestone, with a high ta pering tower, supported with buttresses, having an embattled pediment that encircles the top. The chancel is by far the oldest part of the building, and seems to be the work of a very early period, most likely Saxon, as its massive walls are without buttresses, and the Eastern window is of that kind of order we find in our oldest ecclesiastical structures; it has the long lancet-shape lights carried up in the plain wall. Under this window stands the altar; and very near it in the South wall are two niches, one evidently for an holy water basin; the other is larger, and has in it a stone bench of very rude workmanship, the customary seat of an assistant officiating priest.

The main body of the church is connected with this very ancient chancel by a high light Gothic arch, without screen or ornament, that seenis to be a work of no very distant period (comparatively with the chan

cel).

cel). The North-West side of this por tion of the building has an attached projectional structure, screened off from the main body, that seems to have been intended for a small chapel or chantry; this addition appears to be much more modern than any other part of the church, having the particular style of our Seventh Henry: it further appears to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the niche still remaining in which that statue stood; it is elegantly executed in a fine sort of tabernacle manner, cut in stone, and standing on a handsome mural bracket. The walls of this ambiguous structure have been beautifully ornamented with fine specimens or efforts of the chisel, representing the most remarkable subjects of the Bible, in a fine bold relievo, that nearly covered the whole interior: but unfortunately the church undergoing some repairs, during the lifetime of a predecessor very different from the present rector, the sacrilegious miscreants employed were suffered to pillage the church, and Convey away all this beautiful tracery, with also the Virgin statue.

Many curious stone coffins have been discovered beneath the flagwork, and it is presumed many of them are of Monkish origin, having in various devices the representation of the cross; aud in others the palm-branch rudely designed. The latter is conjectared to have contained the bodies of such Nuns whose ascetic life had passed through the different degrees established according to the rules of St. Benedict.

A little North of the church stands the parsonage, now a delightful rural residence, surrounded with delicious gardens, and decorated with profusions of sweet flowers, elegant shrubs, fruit, and salutiferous vegetables, nicely disposed and tastefully arranged by the present worthy rector, Mr. Williams, whose urbanity of manners is a general theme of praise throughout the village and neighbourhood, from the lisping tongue of the infant to the faltering voice of worn-down age.

In short, all this gentleman's excellent qualities keep pace with his improvements: he reclaimed this little earthly paradise from a state of wretchedness (or chaos) too miserable

to describe, and, like himself from the most early period of life, have ever since been progressively doing good. "Blush, Grandeur, blush; proud Courts, withdraw your blaze

Ye little Stars, hide your diminish'd rays!"

Notwithstanding every prospect of reversionary interest ceases in the te Dure of Mr. Williams's life, yet he looks back on his considerable expenditure with those feelings that result from a noble mind and a generous heart. To use his own words, (says he) "I feel as much or more pleasure in doing for my successor, whoever he may be, as I do for my own comfort and amusement. Man," adds Mr. Williams, " was not intended for himself alone." Amidst the assemblage of rural beauty and rustic elegance here set forth by this gentleman's very superior taste, one cannot help reflecting on the ra tional advantages of retirement with an intelligent friend, where the folles, madness, and impertinence of society, are lost in reasonable contemplation, and where in silence, and in unpolluted air, the mind ponders over the miserable motions of a perturbed world; here we lose sight of ambition, and the vanities of man give place to easy and agreeable meditation, social manners, sound reason, and humanity.

Mr. Williams's luminous understanding has adorned his house equal to the Elysian style of his gardens; his collections and ornaments are subjects well chosen, that display the heat of a fine imagination, and the superior attainments of elegant literature; they are chiefly natural and classical subjects obtained from his own neighbourhood; they are also ingeniously arranged and proportioned by himself; and his connected sentiments on these subjects develope the ideas of an excellent philosophical mind.

This worthy Dignitary of the church is lineally descended from the antient house of Williams in Dorsetshire, whose connexions are nobly distinguished in the history of that County, and honourably represented by this benevolent member of their genealogy; in short, it is no exaggerated praise, but strictly the character of

Mr.