Becket's answer to the pope is characteristic: it is as follows"If my distresses were less, my consolation would be great, as I reflect on your holiness's condescending letter; or were they single, however sad, I might found on it some hope of respite. "But now, from day to day, iniquity waxes strong; wrongs are multiplied, not our's, but Christ's; yea, because Christ's, so much the more our's: they come one after another like waves: surely shipwreck awaits us. No resource is now left us but to call on Him that sleepeth in our ship, Lord, save us, we perish.' "And so much the fiercer is their malignity, that they see the holy Roman church less strong-for truly that which is poured out upon the head, be it good or bad, sweet or bitter, 'runneth down upon the beard, and even unto the skirts of our clothing.' Jesus Christ is robbed of what he purchased with his blood; the secular arm is put forth against his portion; the authority of the holy fathers avails not; the canons of the church, whose very name is hated among us, can no longer protect even the clergy. "But not to weary your holiness by detailing our calamities, I have sent M. Henry, of whose fidelity your holiness is well assured, to explain the whole state of things by word of mouth. Your holiness may trust him as myself; yet were such a course possible, I would much rather communicate with you in person. I speak as to my father and lord; let this last request be concealed in silence. Nothing is now safe: whatever passes in your holiness's conclave is repeated in the King's ear. "Woe is me, that I am reserved for these times, in whose days these evils are come upon us. Truly I had fled, lest my eyes should see the violation of the crucified One,-yet whither, whither except to Him who is our refuge and our strength? "Concerning the Welsh, and Owen, who styles himself their Prince, may your holiness deal as you see fit. They are one great cause of the king's irritation.-Farewell, my beloved Father and Lord." And here I shall close the first act of this anomalous drama. Its contents may perhaps interfere with some preconceived notions; yet the letters are unquestionably genuine, and I am not conscious of having coloured them in translation. PARISH CHURCHES. NO. XI. BEMERTON CHURCH. [With an Engraving.] THERE are some characters at once so elevated and so unobtrusive, that the recollection of them can excite no feelings of hostility in any mind; they breathe so much of heaven, and are at the same time linked with so much of human sympathy, that the most ardent spirit can love, though it does not admire; and even the thoughtless worldling respects, though he will not imitate. We regard the places where such men have lived as the cities of a "region mild of calm and serene air, above the smoke and stir of this dim spot ;" thither we cannot carry the petty feelings of our corrupt nature, and disturb the holy ground." The "smoke and the stir" of this enlightened age have, indeed, done much to cloud the intellect, and to lower the tone of natural feeling; but I do not believe that the hearts of men are hardened, so that they cannot behold and love such men as GEORGE HERBERT, and JOHN NORRIS. In this cheerful confidence I present to my readers a view of BEMERTON Church and Parsonage, of which Herbert was rector from 1630 to 1632, and Norris from 1691 to 1711. If there be one who cares not to "turn out of the road, and visit Bishopsbourne" for the sake of the meek and pious Hooker, because he defended the church by invincible arguments,* as well as "by the innocency and sanctity of his life," it may be, that he will be attracted by the thought of one country parson, whose "library was a holy life," and of another, who thought, "that the best way of expressing our zeal for the church, that so much deserves it, is by living up to her rules and institutions."+ It was with feelings like these that I made a pilgrimage to Bemerton, which is about a mile distant from Salisbury. To one whose earliest associations are wedded to a "churchyard among the mountains," and who learned to connect the piety of the olden time with the coeval towers of our more distant counties, it was not unnatural to be somewhat sanguine in forming conceptions of the church of Bemerton. But they were all disappointed. In approaching the village, it is impossible to distinguish the sacred edifice from the agricultural buildings, by which it is surrounded; and, on entering the hamlet, the eye is directed to the church, rather by the memorials of the dead, than by the appearance of the structure itself. But perhaps it is better as it is; and this may be said without undervaluing those feelings by which "sense is made subservient still to moral purposes, auxiliar to Divine;"§ feelings which were not likely to have been blunted by having just before attended Divine service in the cathedral of Salisbury. There is a moral One of the worst signs of a superficial age is its indifference to maintaining what is really true. There is an affected candour, which first neglects and then depreciates those who have warmly defended what is allowed to be true, who hold fast what is good, and who are zealously affected in a good cause. + Herbert's Country Parson, sect. xxxiii. depth in the strain of that poet, on whom, in these days, the mantle of Herbert has fallen, And as with nature, so it is with architecture. There are times when we are in danger of being wholly riveted by the beauty which we see, or of suffering the imagination to wander, instead of receiving into the heart the simple and humbling truths which live in the memory of such men as Herbert and Norris. The church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, is extremely small, being only 44 ft. 5 in. long, and 14 ft. wide. It has two Gothic windows; one, of the decorated or curvilinear style, at the west end; and one on the south, which belongs to the period of transition to the perpendicular style. The east end appears to have been rebuilt; and there can be little doubt that a Gothic window has been supplanted by the barbarous Venetian, which now fills its place. The bell is contained in a low wooden turret, which scarcely rises above the roof. I eagerly entered the church, hoping that there might be some visible token of George Herbert: but there is little which can have descended from his day, unless it be an old and rude baptismal font. There is no memorial stone of him, who in part rebuilt the church, and who ministered in it twice every day in the week, those excepted on which he walked to join the service in Salisbury Cathedral, and to enjoy his "heaven on earth." When the late incumbent, the celebrated Archdeacon Coxe, was buried, the flooring under the altar was removed, and diligent search was made for the stone to which Walton alludes, but none was found, nor was there any sign of a former interment. On the south side, on a marble tablet, against the wall, near the altar, is the following inscription: |