of the highest gratifications he had promised himself from his removal to Clonfert, was the opportunity it would afford him to explore new regions.

The circumstances of his promotion to the episcopal bench reflect equal honour on himself and the noble person who recommended him to his Majesty. It was a favour as unsolicited as unexpected, unless the report made to his Excellency by his principal secretary, on being consulted who was the properest person to fill the vacant see, may be called solicitation. His report was, that " he believed Dr. Young to be the most distinguished literary character in the kingdom;" and he was recommended accordingly.

November 30. In his eighty-eighth year, after a long and painful illness, at his seat at Monk's Horton, near Hythe, Kent, Matthew Robinson Morris*, Lord Rokeby of Armagh in Ireland (1777,) and an English baronet (1731;) and on Monday, December 8, he was buried in the family vault of that parish, where his father, Matthew Robinson, of West Layton in Yorkshire, Esq. was buried in 1778, aged eighty-four. "His loss," adds the Kentish Gazette, will be sincerely regretted by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance; and still more by his poor neighbours, whose wants he was always ready to relieve with the greatest liberality. He many years ago twice represented Canterbury in parliament; during which time he executed the trust delegated to him by his constituents, with singular integrity and independence, in the practice of which he persevered through the course of a long life." In his last pamphlet, "An Address to the county of Kent, 1797," he speaks most truly of himself as "one who did from his early years adopt the principles of an old and true whig, the principles of Mr. Sydney, Mr. Locke, Lord Molesworth, Mr. Trenchard, and such men ; from which he has to the best of his knowledge, throughout a long life, in no single action or circumstance even once varied or swerved, and which he will certainly now relinquish only at his grave." He was elected for Canterbury in 1747

* He took the additional name of Morris, upon coming, on his mother's death, 1745, to the Horton estate, by the will of his great grandfather, Thomas Morris, who died 1717, but was so attached to his first name, that, in the title of a pamphlet he published in 1777, on a political subject, he gave only the initial of his second name, writing himself" Matthew

and 1751; and succeeded his cousin Dr. Richard Robinson, Primate of Ireland, as an Irish peer, &c. in October, 1794, in consequence of the collateral remainder inserted in the Primate's patent. He is succeeded in his titles, and part of his large estates in Kent, Yorkshire, and Cambridgeshire, by his nephew Morris Robinson, late M.P. for Boroughbridge, and now third Lord Rokeby. His sister, Mrs. Montagu, died 25th of August last aged eighty. But for an account of his family see Archdale's Irish Peerage, vol. VII. and Hasted's Kent, 2nd edit. vol. VIII. p. 57, 58. From another Correspondent we have the following character of this Nobleman :

"Lord Rokeby was a man of very vigorous understanding; who thought upon all occasions for himself, and acted with unexampled consistency up to his own principles, which gave him the appearance, and perhaps the reality, of some eccentricities, of which the relation has been so exaggerated, as to amount to a tissue of the most gross and ridiculous falsehoods. His solitude, though not interrupted by the intercourse of formal visiting, was constantly enlivened by a succession of casual society; and his house, at which nothing was sacrificed to cold and insipid ceremony and ostentation, constantly afforded all the liberal pleasures of ancient hospitality. His address was happy, his manners were easy and attractive; his sentiments were enlarged, candid, and full of philanthropy; and his conversation was original, energetic, and often highly eloquent. He never failed to set the subjects he discussed in a new light; and if he did not always convince, he always interested and entertained. Though single himself, he never lost the most lively anxiety for the welfare of every member of his family. And though the idea of his wealth, added to the hatred of ostentation with which he lived, impressed many with an opinion of his fondness for money, yet the numberless poor neighbours as well as others, whom it now appears that he assisted with loans, through pure benevolence, and on very slight securities, prove how much that part of his character was mistaken. He had early conceived an indignation of the corruptions of power and rank; and of the little mean passions and distinctions, which too often disgrace them. This gave a colour to all his political opinions, in which no man ever displayed more constancy. Independence was his peculiar characteristic; and no motives of personal interest, ambition, or disappointment, ever intruded them

selves in the formation of his opinions. Simplicity and nature were his idols; and he let the grass every where supersede the plough, and his fences and divisions fall, through his extensive domains, that his immense and increasing herds of cattle might have a wider range, till in his latter years he saw the complete success of his system, and beauty, pleasure, and success, united in an unexpected degree. By these means, and an uniform and unostentatious life, he died possessed of a large property in addition to his hereditary estates; although he had omitted to make even the lowest interest of a considerable portion of his money, and although he never raised a rent and the riches he has thus honourably accumulated, he has distributed equally honourably, and with an equally sacred regard to all the professions of his life. He was author of several political pamphlets at various periods of his life; and was much looked up to by the party in his county whose cause he espoused."

TOPOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

I. Account of Milton Abbas School.

MR. URBAN,

Bristol, Jan. 24.

IN the biographical anecdotes of the Rev. Mr. Hutchins, author of the History of Dorset, (in Bibl. Topog. Britann. No. XXXIV.) a short account is given of the foundation of Milton Abbas School in that county. The author of the anecdotes has very properly observed, that the account inserted in Mr. Hutchins's History is so very inaccurate, that one can hardly suppose it to have been the work of Mr. Hutchins. A hint is given, that the manuscript was interpolated after it went out of Mr. Hutchins's hands. Whether that was, or was not the case, let those who are acquainted with the business speak out. It is not my present intention to examine the errors of Mr. Hutchins, or his transcribers, but to present to the public, by means of your Magazine, a fuller relation of the foundation and endowment of the school than has hitherto appeared.

The school of Milton Abbas was founded by William Middleton, Abbot of Milton, in the twelfth year of Henry VIII. About the same time he purchased of Thos. Kirton the manor, farm, and free chapel of Little Mayne, in the county of Dorset, with which he endowed the school. The founder of the school was also a great benefactor to his convent, and his rebus may be seen in the south aisle of Milton church, in which parish he was probably born. By a deed, dated 10th of Feb. 12th Henry VIII. under the common seal of the Abbey of Milton, the said abbot, with the consent of his convent, granted the said manor of Little Mayne to Kirton, which he had before purchased of him, upon trust that Kirton should convey the same unto Giles Strangways, Knt. Thomas Arundell, Knt. Matthew Arundell his son and heir apparent, Thomas Trenchard, Knt. John Horsey, Knt. Geo. De La Lynde, Esq. John Rogers, Esq. Thos. Hussey, Robt. Martin, Thos. Moreton, Robt.Coker, Robt. Strode, Henry Ashley, John Frampton, Thomas Trenchard, John Williams, and Walter Grey, Esqrs. and others, to the