Bishop Milner.

BORN A. D. 1752.-died A. D. 1826.

THIS distinguished Roman Catholic prelate was born of English parents, and educated at the English college of Douay. On being ordained priest, he was sent on the English mission, and, in 1779, was appointed head of the Winchester district. His first publication was a funeral sermon for Bishop Challoner, who died in January, 1781. This was followed by several minor publications; but the circumstance which first brought him into general notice was the spirited part he took in the dissensions of the Roman Catholic committee, and the Vicars-apostolic, in which he espoused the cause of the bishops, and, by his talents and perseverance, procured the defeat of the bill brought in by the "protesting Catholic dissenters," as they called themselves.

In 1798 he published a history, civil and ecclesiastical, of the antiquities of Winchester,-a work of great research, but compiled in a high polemical spirit, which involved him in not a little controversy. In 1803 he was appointed vicar-apostolic of the Midland district. In the transactions arising out of the question of the Veto, Bishop Milner took a very active part. "At a general meeting of Roman Catholics, in which it was proposed to pass a resolution, intimating a disposition to agree to such ecclesiastical securities as parliament might consider the indispensable accompaniments to a concession of the Catholic claims, Dr Milner warmly resisted the proposition. The Catholic prelates of Ireland were so satisfied with his conduct, that, in a synod held on the 26th of February, 1810, they passed a resolution, That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Right Rev. Dr Milner, Bishop of Castabala, for the faithful discharge of his duty, as agent to the Roman Catholic bishops of this part of the United Kingdom, and more particularly for his apostolical firmness in dissenting from and opposing a general, vague, and indefinite declaration or resolution, pledging the Roman Catholics to an eventual acquiescence in arrangements, possibly prejudicial to the integrity and safety of our church discipline.' To do away the effect of a work published by Dr Milner, in 1810, called, An Elucidation of the Veto, in a threefold Address to the Public, the Catholics, and the Advocates of Catholics in Parliament,' Mr Charles Butler took up his pen, and published A Letter to an Irish Catholic Gentleman;' which work was immediately followed by another, by Dr Milner, called 'Letters to a Roman Catholic Prelate of Ireland, in Refutation of Counsellor Charles Butler's Letters to an Irish Catholic Gentleman; to which is added, a Postscript, containing a Review of the Rev. Dr O'Connor's works, entitled Columbanus and Hibernos on the Liberty of the Irish Church.' This latter work appeared in 1811, and was published in Dublin. In the same year also appeared from his prolific pen, Instructions addressed to the Catholics of the Midland Counties of England, on the State and Dangers of their Religion,' and a Treatise on the Ecclesiastical Architecture of England during the Middle Ages.' In 1813, disapproving of the bill for relief of the Papists then introduced into the house of commous, Dr

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Milner, coming to town from Wolverhampton on the 18th of May, the day previous to the debate in the committee of the house, having experienced the successful effects of his efforts in 1791, immediately drew up a Brief Memorial on the Catholic Bill,' which he had printed and partly circulated on the 21st of that month, the grand division on the bill being fixed for the 24th. When the bill was lost, the British Catholic Board declared that Dr Milner's Brief Memorial' called for and had their most marked disapprobation, and that they did not consider themselves as implicated in, or in any way responsible for, Dr Milner's political opinions, conduct, or writings; after which they struck Dr Milner's name out of the select committee of the board. On the very same day, and at the very same hour, the Irish Catholic prelates were assembled in Dublin, under the presidency of the most Rev. Dr O'Reilly, the primate of the Irish church, and passed the following resolution: "Resolved, That the Right Rev. Dr John Milner, bishop of Castabala, our vigilant, incorruptible agent, the powerful and unwearied champion of the Catholic religion, continues to possess our esteem, our confidence, and our gratitude.'

On the same day, too, the Irish Catholic board met in Dublin to thank the prelates of their church for condemning and rejecting the bill, which they rejoiced had been lost; and on the 15th of the following month, June, an aggregate meeting of the Irish Catholics passed the following resolution: "That the warm approbation and gratitude of the Catholics of Ireland be conveyed to the Right Rev. Dr Milner, for his manly, upright, and conscientious opposition, in conformity with the most Rev. and Right Rev. the Catholic Prelates of Ireland, to the ecclesiastical regulations contained in the bill lately submitted to Parliament, and purporting to be a bill for the further relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects."

On the 30th of August, in the same year, one of the most numerous aggregate meetings ever held assembled at Cork. It is supposed that there were not less than ten thousand persons present. At this meeting the annexed resolution was passed: "Resolved, That the warmest expression of our gratitude is due, and hereby offered, to that venerable and indefatigable Catholic prelate, the Right Reverend Dr Milner, as well for those manly labours which his great mind has suggested, as for the faithful discharge of the high trust reposed in him as agent for the prelates of Ireland, who have sanctioned his struggles by their public and grateful approval; and that we confidently trust he will proceed in his exertions for our religious preservation and political redemption, unshaken by the hostility of false friends and false brethren, who have not the good sense to estimate, or the spirit to approve, his generous attachment to our cause and our country; and that we feel particularly indebted to that excellent prelate, for his manly, upright, and conscientious opposition to the ecclesiastical arrangements submitted to parliament during the last session, in the bill purporting to provide for the further relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects."

"On the 30th of April, 1814, a rescript from Rome arrived in England, dated on the 16th of February, and bearing the signature of Mons. Quarantotti, approving of the bill of 1813, and calling upon the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland to receive with gratitude what Dr Milner and the Catholic hierarchy had condemned as schismatical,

or tending to schism; and the great body of Catholics of both countries had rejected with indignation. Pius VII. was at that time a prisoner in France, having been cast into a dungeon by Bonaparte. Previously to his leaving Rome, the Pope had appointed Mons. Quarantotti, with other divines, to manage the affairs of the missions, and they had been induced by the agent of the Catholic board to issue the rescript just mentioned. By a singular concurrence of events, at the moment the bearer of the rescript was on his way to England, the Pope, released from his captivity in France, was on his way to resume the exercise of his high functions at Rome. Dr Milner no sooner heard of this than he instantly resolved to lay the case of the English Catholics, and his own conduct, at the feet of his Holiness in person, and set out on his journey to Rome without delay. On his arrival he found that the prelates and the theologians who had sanctioned the rescript were in deep disgrace, not only for that act, but for having taken the prohibited oath to Napoleon. Admitted to an audience of the supreme pontiff, the reception of Dr Milner was most flattering and honourable, and out of the customary course of etiquette. It appears, however, that, (whether by the intrigues of Dr Milner's enemies, or by the operation of a sound uninfluenced judgment on the facts themselves, it is, of course, impossible for us to determine,) an impression had been made at Rome that Dr Milner, in his conduct in England, had not sufficiently united the suaviter in modo to the fortiter in re; for it was intimated to him that, although he had done his duty, and ought to proceed in the track he had hitherto pursued, yet that he should endeavour to act with moderation, and without hurting the feelings of others. It is even said, that his adversaries were so anxious to prevent his return to his native country, that they tried to have him placed under restraint; which attempt was rendered abortive only by the appearance of Murat, king of Naples, before the gates of Rome with his army, and the flight of the Pope and the cardinals to Genoa, then in the possession of the English."

In 1818 Bishop Milner published a polemical work entitled 'The End of Religious Controversy,' in answer to the Bishop of St David's Protestant Catechism. This book is highly esteemed by Mr Butler, who, in his book of the Roman Catholic Church, pronounces it to be "the ablest exposition of the doctrines of that church on the articles contested with her by Protestants, and the ablest statement of the truths by which they are supported, and of the historical facts with which they are connected, that has appeared in our language." It was answered by Bishop Burgess and several other Protestant champions.

Bishop Milner's active, laborious life closed on the 19th of April, 1826. He was a man of great ability, but violent in the expression of his opinions, sometimes even to rashness.

Annual Biography, vul xi.

Bishop Barrington.

BORN A. d. 1734.-DIED A. d. 1826.

SHUTE, the sixth son of John, Lord Barrington, was born at Becket in Berkshire, and educated at Eton and Oxford. On the accession of George III., he was nominated one of the chaplains in ordinary, and in 1761 was made a canon of Christ-church. In 1768, after receiving a variety of minor appointments, he was consecrated bishop of Landaff. In 1781 he was translated from that see to the see of Salisbury; and ten years afterwards, succeeded Bishop Thurlow in the see of Durham. He filled this latter bishopric for a period of 35 years, having attained the great age of 92. Few prelates have been more universally respected than the subject of the present notice. His piety was of the most active kind, and his benevolence unbounded.

The following sketch of his lordship's habits is extracted from a memoir by his domestic chaplain, Mr Townsend: "The strictest regularity prevailed in his household. At seven in the morning he was awoke by his valet; and, after the time allotted to dressing, he devoted to private prayer, and devotional reading, the time which remained before the assembling of the family, for morning worship, at a quarter past nine. Breakfast was then served up. The conversation which had originated at breakfast, (and which generally arose from our informing each other of some remark, or incident, which appeared worthy of remembrance, in the reading of the morning,) sometimes continued till post-time, when the bishop retired to read and answer his letters. He was attentive to business to the last; and generally wrote from two to nine letters daily, answering every letter, if possible, by return of post. If any communication required a more deliberate reply, he would favour me by fully discussing with me the subject of the letter. After finishing his letters, he received his morning visitors, or read till one o'clock; when luncheon, at which he was accustomed to take one mouthful of solid food, was served up. He then walked, or was driven out, for about two hours. He dined at five. Small parties, never exceeding, with ourselves, eight in number, dined at his house about twice a week. It was at his own table that he particularly excelled in conversation, at once varied, intellectual, and useful. He never permitted the subject, on which he had begun to converse, so entirely to drop, that there should be any awkward or embarrassing pause, in the conversation. He carefully watched the moment in which a new turn might be given to the dialogue, if there was the least discontinuance of animated and cheerful discussion. It generally happened that at every party one of the guests had been distinguished by some enterprise or pursuit; or excelled in some department of literature, or branch of art. Whatever might be the subject, the bishop would imperceptibly lead the conversation to some matter connected with the pursuit, or department, in which his guests had attained eminence; and he so used to proceed with questions, remarks, or hints, that the enthusiasm of the traveller, the artist, the author, or the professor, was gradually kindled. The more eminent guest became the principal speaker; curiosity was

excited, attention fixed, and information was elicited, without pedantry in the speaker, or fatigue to the hearer. When we dined alone we generally talked over the various controversies, which were engaging the attention of the public, the debates in parliament, or the literature of the day. The bishop took a lively interest in every proceeding relative to the great national question which still divides us; and I remember that he strenuously encouraged me in writing my reply to Mr Butler's work: The Book of the Roman Catholic Church. He had none of that apathy which is too frequently the misfortune of the aged, when they have not devoted their minds to intellectual pursuits. Literary curiosity, the comfort and refreshment of age, was an active principle in him to the last; and the love of literary novelty, next to devotion and benevolence, his ruling passion. Tea was brought in at half-past seven, and at eight the bishop ended the day as he had begun it, by the perusal of devotional books, or by private meditation and prayer. I well remember his telling me that he considered it to be a part of his duty to God to devote to him the remaining strength of his intellect, by dedicating to his service those hours in which the faculties of his mind were most active: and for that reason he never gave his restless and sleepless hours, which at his advanced age were unavoidably numerous, to prayer, and to devotional exercises. He preferred giving up the prime of his day, and the remnant of his intellect to the Almighty; and he surrendered the dross of his time, such was his own forcible expression, to inferior subjects, to literary recollections; or to soothing remembrances of the friends he had lost, whose conversation he recollected with pleasure.

"At a quarter before ten, the family were summoned to evening prayer. A slight supper was then served, and at eleven the bishop retired for the night. The pleasantest hours which I passed with my lamented friend, were those which elapsed between the removal of supper, and the entrance of the servant who attended him to his room. He was now ninety years of age, and he had long been accustomed to live in the constant anticipation of death. Every night he composed himself to rest; not expecting to live till the morning. The conversations therefore which we were accustomed to hold at this hour were always grave and serious, though uniformly cheerful. He regarded death, as a man of sound judgment and Christian principles will ever do-without fear, and without rapture; with well-founded hope, though with undefinable awe as a punishment decreed by the Almighty, yet as the introduction to a higher state of happiness than he could possibly experience, (though he possessed every worldly enjoyment,) in this state of his be ing. Though our conversation was sometimes directed to the literary, or theological publications of the day, or to the actions, demeanour, or conduct, of his more distinguished contemporaries, of whom he related numerous, and most interesting anecdotes, yet the more frequent topics of our conversation were derived from the possible or probable approach of the period when the body should be committed to the ground, and the spirit return to its Maker. He delighted to dwell on these subjects. The questions which appeared to interest him more than any others, were-whether the soul slept in the grave, with the suspension of its faculties, till it awoke, with the re-animated body, in the morning of the resurrection or whether, (as he steadfastly believed,) it passed in