"De Legione Manlianâ, Quæstio ex Livio desumpta, et Rei Militaris Romanæ studiosis proposita, Auctore Gulielmo Vincent*."

Sermon at the Visitation at Wakefield, July 25, 1769;" which produced a Pamphlet called "Remarks," &c. censuring the Preacher for having entertained his audience with a political declamation. "A Farewell Sermon at Trinity Church, Leeds, Nov. 5, 1769." Bethesda, or the House of Mercy; a Sermon preached at the Parish Church of St. Nicholas, in Newcastle upon Tyne, July 26, 1777, before the Governors of the Infirmary." 'A Sermon preached at York, on the 29th of March, 1780, for the Benefit of the Lunatic Asylum;" and "A Sermon preached at York, 1781."

* This very learned and venerable Divine is the immediate descendant of a family long known and respected at Shepey in Leicestershire, and memorable for having produced a considerable number of ornaments in the Church; some of whom shall here be noticed: 1. William Vincent, born in 1664, was a Student of Emanuel College, Cambridge; B. A. 1684; Rector of Ibstock about 1699; but ejected as a Nonjuror. He was called Blofferby Will, from his residence at Blackfordby (commonly now named Blofferby), a hamlet of Ashby de la Zouch, and probably officiating in the Chapel there after his ejectment from the Rectory of Ibstock. He resided for some time at Ravenston, in that neighbourhood, where he was married Aug. 24, 1714; and died at Shepey in December 1740, æt. 70. A respectable Friend, now living, says, "I have heard that he was a worthy man, and nominated by the Pretender to a Bishoprick. No wonder that he was a Nonjuror; for the whole family were high Tories, not to say Jacobites, and so at that time was nearly the whole County. His daughter Anne Ridley and her husband I remember: Anne I saw in extreme old age in 1794; and before that at Shepey in 1757, when I heard her talk of her father William."-2. George Vincent, born in 1660, Student of Emanuel College; B.A. 1680; M. A. 1684; Rector of the South mediety of Shepey 1686; died 1707.-3. John Vincent, of Emanuel College; B.A. 1699; M. A. 1703; Vicar of Croxton Kyriel, died Sept. 26, 1713, æt. 35.-4. William Vincent, born in 1672; Rector of Kibworth 1705; died Jan. 12, 1740-1, æt. 70. He had two sons; Richard, who succeeded him as Rector of Kibworth; and Silvester, of whom hereafter.-5. William Vincent, of Emanuel College; LL.B. 1709; Rector of Shepey 1710; buried Dec. 27, 1740. He married, first, Hannah Thompson; of whom the following particulars were communicated by the Dean of Westminster : She was of a family at Loughton in Buckinghamshire (near Stony Stratford); between which family and my father there was a very close connexion. William Thompson, Rector of Cosgrave, left to my father lands at Pottersperry and Loughton. The land at

Lough

"A Sermon preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, January 30th, 1793; being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the

Loughton was intended for me, as godson to William Thomp son; but was swept away in the wreck of my father's fortune, after the earthquake at Lisbon, in which my brother was destroyed, and the concern entrusted to him by my father ruined. There was, however, no bankruptcy; and every creditor was paid to the full. My education was continued at Cambridge by my elder brother, and I had the satisfaction of re-paying him. W.V." Mr. William Vincent married, secondly, Hannah Reynolds, of New House Grange.-6. Silvester Vincent, of Emanuel College; B. A. 1736; M. A. and Rector of Shepey 1741: died 1758, aged about 41. "This gentleman married Hannah Reynolds, the widow of his predecessor, for the purpose, probably, of obtaining the living, or keeping it in the family. He was a truly honest and worthy man, a father to his wife's daughters, and beloved by them as a father. The daughters had land, and did not want assistance of this sort from him; and, as he had little or no property of his own, his manner of life was proportionate to the full value of the living. I knew him well; and a more respectable man was not in the country. W. V.". 7. Richard Vincent, brother of the last-mentioned William, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; B. A. 1716; M. A. 1720; Rector of Donamore, or Castle Caulfield, in the Diocese of Armagh.-8. Mr. Giles Vincent, a younger brother of William and Richard, was a Packer, and Portugal Merchant; Deputy of Lime Street Ward 1738. "He was a most laborious and industrious man, who made a fortune under the Spanish and Portugal merchants as a Packer; but, from the ambition of becoming a Portugal merchant himself, he experienced, first, a great loss by the failure of his principal Correspondent at Lisbon. Still, however, intent upon the same object, he articled his second son, Giles Vincent, to a commercial house in that city, whom he afterwards settled at a small Port about 20 leagues North of Lisbon, called St. Martinho. The plan was good, and promised success, and my brother a steady man; but he happened to arrive at Lisbon with a remittance for England the very night before the Earthquake in 1755, and was killed the next morning. The concern would have been ruined by this circumstance: but, added to this, a vessel which my father had built expressly for this trade was run away with by the crew, consisting of Foreigners; and the Master and his son, the only Englishmen on board, murdered. This stroke was fatal. The winding-up of the little that was left was committed to the house of Mayne at Lisbon, who managed it with honour; but it was not concluded till near 30 years after, when

there

First. With an Appendix, concerning the political Principles of Calvin. By Samuel Lord Bishop of St. David's." 4to.

there was a final remittance of less than 500l. My father went out of business, and died at Hammersmith Sept. 21, 1764, at the age of 70 or 71; but my eldest brother stood his ground as a Packer, and was the stay of the family. That trade, however, which was one of the best in London, declined so fast, that, though he enjoyed the connexions of three or four houses all centered in him, he died a few years ago, respected and in credit, but never enriched by it. W. V."

William Vincent, the fifth and only surviving son of the Deputy, was born Nov. 2, 1739. Being intended for the Church, of which his father was a very orthodox and zealous member, he was sent to Westminster School, and in 1753 admitted on the foundation. He was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, 1757; B. A. 1761; Usher of Westminster School 1762; M. A. 1764; D. D. and Chaplain to his Majesty 1776; Rector of Allhallows the Great and Less, Thames Street, 1778 (resigned 1803). In 1777, when Dr. Markham became Archbishop of York, he appointed his friend Dr. Vincent to be Sub Almoner, an office which he continues to hold. In 1788 he became Head Master of Westminster School; and President of Sion College 1798. But his Church preferments were very narrow, till in 1801 he obtained, what he had long desired and deserved, a Prebendal Stall in the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster; of which in the following year he was appointed Dean; and in 1807 became Rector of Islip, on his own presentation as Dean of Westminster. Of this venerable Divine I will only observe, that, by steadiness and perseverance, he has twice passed through Westminster School from the lowest form to the highest; first, as a boy; and, secondly, from the lowest Usher to the Head Master; and now Dean, by favour of Lord Sidmouth, to whom he was scarce personally known, but who regarded services in preference to great connexions. Except the four years that he was at Cambridge to obtain a degree, the Dean of Westminster has been rooted to the spot where he now resides, from his eighth to his seventy-fifth year, happy in his family, his fortune, and his situa tion. He is still living, 1814, highly respected for his virtues and his talents; and has two sons, who are both married, and have children; and these are the only Vincents of that branch of the Shepey family now remaining.-This very learned Writer's publications are, "A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Richard Watson, King's Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, 1780," 8vo.; and this was followed by "Considerations on Parochial Music, 1787," 8vo. In 1789 he preached and published "A Sermon before the Sons of the Clergy;" and in 1792 "A Sermon preached at St. Margaret's, Westminster,

for

A Third Edition of Dr. Moseley's "Treatise on Tropical Diseases, on Military Operations, and on the Climate of the West Indies."

for the Grey Coat School in that Parish;" which being adopted by the Association at the Crown and Anchor, above 20,000 copies were dispersed in London, exclusive of re-publications at Bath, Canterbury, Gloucester, &c. "The Origination of the Greek Verb, an Hypothesis," was his next performance; (republished, improved, and considerably enlarged, under the title of "The Greek Verb analysed.") This was followed by the Treatise "De Lege Manliana, 1793." "The Voyage of Nearchus to the Euphrates; collected from the Original Journal, preserved by Arrian, and illustrated by Authorities Antient and Modern; containing an Account of the first Navigation attempted by Europeans in the Indian Ocean, &c. 1797," 4to; and "The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Part I. containing an Account of the Navigation of the Antients from the Sea of Suez to the Coast of Zanquebar, with Dissertations, 1800," 4to. It is now no secret that the good Dean was the Reviewer in the British Critic of the several publications at that period relative to the controversy about the Troad. In 1802 he published " A Defence of Public Education, addressed to the most Reverend the Lord Bishop of Meath, by William Vincent, D. D. in Answer to a Charge annexed to his Lordship's Discourse, preached at St. Paul's on the Anniversary Meeting of the Charity Children, and published by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, 1801," 8vo. The occasion of this Tract, which excited no small notice and animadversion, was this: Dr. Rennel, Master of the Temple, in a Sermon preached before the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, at the annual meeting of the Charity Schools in St. Paul's, 1799, remarked, in rather sharp terms, on the prevailing neglect of Religion in our Public Seminaries of Education. At this Dr. Vincent took fire; and, indeed, not without some reason, standing, as he then did, at the very bead of the numerous and respectable body who were thus assailed by a Preacher of Dr. Rennel's high character. A private correspondence between these two learned Divines ensued; and Dr. Rennel having made concessions and explanations which Dr. Vincent considered as satisfactory, all further observations were suspended. But this pacification proved of short continuance; for the Bishop of Meath having delivered a Sermon on the same occasion, and in the same pulpit, in 1800, which was printed at the request of the Society, thought proper to subjoin a note, in which he repeats Dr. Rennel's accusation, with some severe additions of his own against Public Schools. This was enough to rouse any man; and that Dr. Vincent felt himself hurt at the repetition of such charges is not to be wondered at. He applied to the Society for leave to insert in their parcels a justificatory paper, by way of repelVOL. IX. ing

K

"The Policy, Benevolence, and Charity, of the Royal Humane Society. A Sermon preached before the Governors of that Institution, in the Parish Church of St. Botolph Aldersgate, on the 27th of

ing the evil impression which the Bishop's note might make upon the minds of its readers. This request the Society did not think proper to grant, as not chusing to take any part in the controversy. The Doctor then, as his last resource, appealed to the publick in a " Defence of Public Education, 1802," one of the most masterly apologies that ever appeared in print. It is true he speaks in a high tone, and, perhaps, in some respects he is too keen upon the Bishop and Dr. Rennell. Neither of these excellent Divines, however, have made any sort of reply to Dr. Vincent, though certainly something might have been expected from them, either to confirm their assertions, or in the way of retractation. Other Writers, however, have entered into the dispute. Amongst these, perhaps, the ablest was, "Remarks on the Rev. Dr. Vincent's Defence of Public Educa tion; with an Attempt to state fairly the Question, whether the Religious Instruction and Moral Conduct of the rising Generation are sufficiently provided for, and effectually secured, in our Schools and Universities. Together with the Sentiments of several late Writers, and others, on that important subject. By a Layman, 1802," Svo. It might have been expected that some other Heads of Schools would have entered their caveat also against the charges brought against them, but it seems that they rested satisfied with what has been so ably urged by Dr. Vincent. Since the agitation of the question, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge have properly passed a resolution, that, for the future, nothing shall be appended to a Sermon preached before them but what has previously met with their sanction. This measure, however, was not carried without violent opposition. The Dean's subsequent publications were, "A Sermon preached before the Honourable House of Commons, at St. Margaret's Westminster, on Tuesday June 1, 1802, being the Day appointed for a General Thanksgiving," 4to. "The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea: Part the Second. Containing an Account of the Navigation of the Antients, from the Gulph of Elana in the Red Sea to the Island of Ceylon. With Dissertations, 1805," 4to. "The Voyage of Nearchus, and the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, translated from the Greek, 1809." This learned Work is properly the third Volume of the Commerce and Navigation of the Antients. As a pulpit orator, the Dean is distinguished by great animation, a clear and sonorous articulation, and a graceful dignity of manner. His Sermons are the compositions of a mind richly embued with divine and human learning, elegant in their language, yet sufficiently leveled to the plainest understandings. A fine Portrait of him was engraved in 1807, from a painting by Howard.

March,