thirteen articles, was soon drawn up against him; and he was accused in form before the Bishop of Durham. But the bishop, who was much acquainted with the world, easily found a method of dismissing the cause, so as to protect his nephew, without endangering himself. The malice of his enemies, however, could not rest; and they created him so much trouble, and on account of the extreme fatigue of keeping both his places, he begged leave of the bishop to resign either the archdeaconry or his parish. But the bishop observing that the income of the former was not a sufficient support without the latter, and that he was unwilling they should be separated, Mr. Gilpin therefore resigned them both.

The bishop soon after presented him to the rectory of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham. The living was valuable; but the duties of it were proportionably laborious. The parish contained no less than fourteen villages; and the instruction of the people having been so exceedingly neglected, popery was arrived to its full growth of superstition. Scarcely any traces of true christianity were indeed left. Nay, what little remained, was even popery itself corrupted. Here all its idle ceremonies were carried to a greater extent than in most other places, and were looked upon as the very essentials of religion. And how these barbarous people were excluded from all means of better information, appears from hence, that through the neglect of the bishops and the justices of peace, King Edward's proclamations for a change of worship, had not been even heard of, in that part of the kingdom, at the time of his death. Such was the condition of the parish of Houghton, when first committed to the care of Mr. Gilpin. He was grieved to see ignorance and vice so lamentably prevail; but he did not despair. He implored the assistance and blessing of God, and was much encouraged. The people crowded about him, and heard him with great attention. They perceived him to be a very different teacher from those to whom they had been accustomed.

After the acceptance of Houghton, Tonstal urged him to accept of a stall in the cathedral of Durham; telling him, that there did not exist the same objection against this as against the archdeaconry, it being altogether a sinecure;

"all who preached that doctrine became heretics soon after. Others found great fault, for that I preached repentance and salvation by Christ; " and did not make whole sermons, as they did, about transubstantiation, "purgatory, holy-water, images, prayers to saints, and such like.'* ..

and that he could have no reasonable pretence for refusing it. But Mr. Gilpin resolving not to accept it, told the bishop, that by his bounty he had already more wealth, than he was afraid, he could give a good account of. He, therefore, begged that he might not have any additional charge; but that his lordship would bestow his preferment on some one who stood in greater need of it.

Mr. Gilpin now lived retired, and gave no immediate offence to the clergy. The experience he had of their temper, made him more cautious not to offend them. He was, indeed, more cautious than he afterwards approved. For in future life he often taxed his behaviour, at this period, with weakness and cowardice. But all the caution he could use availed nothing. He was soon formally accused a second time before the Bishop of Durham; who again found means to protect him. The malice of his enemies, however, succeeded in part. From this time, Tonstal's favour towards him visibly declined; and to shew his dislike of heresy, and of his kinsman's conduct, he struck him out of his will, though he had before made him his executor. The loss gave Mr. Gilpin very little uneasiness. His heart was not set upon the things of this world. It was no less than he expected, nor more than he had provided for. He was, indeed, sorry to see the bishop disgusted; and would have given up any thing, except his conscience, to have satisfied him. But a good conscience, he was assured, was the best friend in the world; and he was resolved not to part with that, to please any man upon earth.

His enemies, in the mean time, were not silenced. They were so exceedingly enraged by their second failure, that they caused thirty-two articles, expressed in the strongest terms, to be exhibited against him, before Bonner, bishop of London. Here they went the right way to work. Bonner was a man exactly suited to their purpose, nature having formed him for an inquisitor. The fierce zealot at once took fire, extolled so laudable a concern for religion, and promised that the heretic should be at the stake in a fortnight. Mr. Gilpin, who was no stranger to the burning zeal of the Bishop of London, received the account with great composure, and immediately prepared for martyrdom. Laying his hand on the shoulder of a favourite domestic, he said, “ At length they have prevailed against me. I am “accused to the Bishop of London, from whom there will "be no escaping. God forgive their malice, and give me

"strength to undergo the trial." He then ordered his servant to provide a long garment, in which he might go decently to the stake, and desired it might be got ready with all expedition; "for I know not," said he, "how "soon I may have occasion for it." As soon as he was apprehended, he set out for London, in expectation of the fire and faggot. But on his journey to the metropolis, we are informed, that he broke his leg, which unavoidably detained him some time on the road. The persons conducting him, took occasion from this disaster maliciously to retort upon him a frequent observation of his, viz. "That nothing happens to us but what is intended for our good." And when they asked him whether he thought his broken leg was so intended, he meekly replied, that he had no doubt of it. And, indeed, so it soon appeared in the strictest sense. For before he was able to travel, Queen Mary died, and he was set at liberty. Thus he again escaped out of the bands of his enemies.

Mr. Gilpin having obtained this providential deliverance, returned to Houghton through crowds of people, expressing the utmost joy, and blessing God for his happy release. The following year he lost his friend and relation Bishop Tonstal;+ but soon procured himself other friends. Upon the deprivation of the popish bishops, the Earl of Bedford recommended him to the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, who offered him the bishopric of Carlisle; and according to Wood, he was much pressed to accept it.‡ The Bishop of Worcester, his near relation, wrote to him expressly for this purpose, and warmly urged him to accept the offer, declaring that no man was more fit for such kind of preferment. After all, Mr. Gilpin modestly refused. No arguments could induce him to act contrary to the dictates of his conscience. The accounts given us by Bishop Nicolson and Dr. Heylin of Mr. Gilpin's behaviour on this occasion, are extremely disingenuous: they both ascribe it to his lucrative motives. The former intimates that the good man knew what he was about, when he refused to part with the rectory of Houghton for the bishopric of Carlisle: the latter supposes that all his

Biog. Britan, vol. vii. Sup. p. 72.

+ Bishop Tonstal was one of the politest scholars of the age, and a man of the most amiable character. He published a book, entitled De Arte Supputandi, which was the first book of arithmetic ever printed in England, and passed through many editions.-Granger, vol. i. p. 95.

Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 593.

Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 63.

scruples would have vanished, might he have had the old temporalities undiminished. Both these writers seem to have been very little acquainted with Mr. Gilpin's character. He considered his income in no other light, than that of a fund to be managed for the public good. The bishop's insinuation, therefore, is contradicted by every action in Mr. Gilpin's life: and Dr. Heylin's is most notoriously false, for the bishopric was offered him with the old temporalities undiminished.*

It is certain that Mr. Gilpin was reckoned among the nonconformists of his time; and though he had several reasons for rejecting the offered preferment, that which prevailed most with him, was his disaffection to some points of conformity. It was his fixed opinion, that no human invention should take place in the church, instead of a divine institution. The excellent Bishop Pilkington, who succeeded Tonstal at Durham, connived at his nonconformity; and excused him from subscription, the use of the habits, and a strict observance of the ceremonies. But the bishop could screen him only for a season. For upon the controversy about the habits, about the year 1566, he was deprived for nonconformity; but it is extremely probable he did not continue long under the ecclesiastical censure. The year after he was offered and nominated to the bishopric of Carlisle, he was offered the provostship of Queen's college, Oxford; but this he declined also. His heart was set on ministerial usefulness, not ecclesiastical preferment.

Mr. Gilpin continued many years at Houghton without further molestation, discharging all the duties of his function in a most exemplary manner. When he first undertook the care of souls, it was his settled maxim to do all the good in his power; and accordingly his whole conduct was one direct line towards this point. His first object was to gain the affections of his people. Yet he used no servile compliances: his means, as well as his ends, were good. His behaviour was free without levity, obliging without meanness, and insinuating without art. He condescended to the weak, bore with the passionate, and complied with the scrupulous. Hereby he convinced them how much he loved them; and thus gained their high esteem. He was unwearied in the instruction of those

* Biog. Britan. vol. vii. Sup. p. 72.

+ MS. Remarks, p. 117.
§ Calamy's Account, vol. i. Pref.

Neal's Puritans, vol. i. p. 345.

gen

under his care. He was not satisfied with the advice he gave them in public, but taught them from house to house; and disposed his people to come to him with their doubts and difficulties. And even the reproofs which he gave, evidently proceeding from friendship, and given with tleness, very seldom gave offence. Thus, with unceasing assiduity, he was employed in admonishing the vicious, and encouraging the well-disposed. And in a few years, by the blessing of God upon his endeavours, a greater change was effected throughout his parish, than could have been expected.

Mr. Gilpin continued to discharge the duties of his ministerial function in the most conscientious and laborious manner. Notwithstanding all his painful industry, and the large scope of labour in his own parish, he thought the sphere of his exertions were too confined. It grieved his righteous soul to behold in all the surrounding parishes so much ignorance, superstition, and vice, occasioned by the shameful neglect of the clergy. The ignorance and public vices in that part of the country, were very remarkable. This appears from the injunctions of Archbishop Grindal in 1570; among which were the following:-" That no "pedlar shall be admitted to sell his wares in the church "porch in divine service.-That parish clerks shall be able "to read. That no lords of misrule, or summer lords and "ladies, or any disguised persons, morrice-dancers or "others, shall come irreverently into the church, or play

any unseemly parts with scoffs, jests, wanton gestures, ❝or ribbald talk, in the time of divine service."* Such was the deplorable condition of the people. Therefore, to supply as far as he was able, what was manifestly wanting in others, he used regularly every year to visit the most neglected parishes in Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Yorkshire: and that his own people might not suffer, he was at the expense of keeping an assistant. Even in those wild parts of the country, he never wanted an audience; and was the means under God of rousing many to a sense of religion, and the great importance of their salvation.

There is a tract of country on the borders of Northumber land, called Reads-dale and Tyne-dale; which, of all other places in the north, were the most barbarous. It was inhabited by a kind of desperate banditti, who lived chiefly

* Biog. Britan. vol. vii. Sup. p. 73.