The verse of these poems is rhymed, but in a variety of ways. In the Novel Confort and Quatre Semencz, there are stanzas of four lines, all four rhyming together; and in the Payre Eternal, of three lines. In the Novel Sermon and Nobla Leyczon, which are not stanzaic, the same rhyme is frequently continued till it exhausts itself, sometimes for eight successive lines. Such practice was common among the troubadours of the south and the bards of Wales, and marked the early style of that barbarian ornament to verse. The metre is irregular and rhythmical, and its incongruities were probably subdued by the aid of a musical recitative. The general basis of it seems to be the trimeter, or Alexandrine, now so prevalent in French poetry, Ma la novella di, "non te volhas venjar," with a free admission of short syllables, so as to introduce, by analogy to ancient verse, the anapast or tribrach. The double, or hypercatalectic, rhyme was admitted; and frequently a redundant syllable was introduced in the middle place, where the first half of the line, considered as an English Alexandrine, terminates. Car nos veyen aquest | mont esser pres del chavon. Mot curios deorian es ser | de bonas obras far, Car nos veyen aquest | mont | de la fin apropriar. But the six-foot verse, though the standard and basis, was not a fixed rule; and occasionally the line shrunk into five feet, the common English heroic, Aquisti trey, la Sancta Trinita; and more frequently was spun out into seven or eight. In a few instances the poet appears to have been fairly run away with by his winged horse, especially in this couplet, wherein the fervour of thought and feeling seems to have been more than usually kindled : Mena me al mont de Sion alegre e mot segur, seguent li non socza; The apparent break-down of the boasted Geneva Codex renders it the more necessary to invite attention to the primitive character of these rhythmo-metrical effusions, in which it was endeavoured to convey religious instruction by oral recitation and memory. A SKETCH OF ONE OF THE WORKING CLERGY. THE REV. JOHN BOLD, A.B. 1679-1751. "I HAVE many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now," were some of the last words of our Lord to his sorrowing disciples; he could not then tell them fully of all they would have to suffer for his sake, for their minds were not prepared for the discovery. And it is well that the sincere and zealous, but too sanguine candidate for the sacred office, does not foresee how different may be his portion from what he had formerly anticipated. He is prepared, indeed, to encounter difficulties; he expects to meet with opposition on the part of the wicked or contentious; he is prepared to be unjustly spoken against, yea, to have even his good spoken evil of; against railing, and calumny, and persecution, he is already armed, and consoles himself with the promise of his Saviour, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. But there is another thing for which he is frequently not so well prepared, and which he is quite as likely to encounter, and that is, neglect: with high hopes and expectations; he enters as a labourer in God's vineyard; he has good talents, well cultivated; has literary tastes, and those not inconsistent with his profession; is skilled, it may be, in the original languages of Scripture, and has entered deeply into the study of Biblical criticism; and he not unfairly hopes to attain, ere long, a station of extended usefulness. But such a person may, during the whole or greater portion of his life, be called to take the oversight of some rural parish, where he meets with none capable of estimating his abilities or affording him pleasant society; where, without the means of purchasing books, and far from the libraries to which he has been accustomed, he is precluded from pursuing those studies on which he formerly hoped to found a well-earned reputation. Should this paper meet the eye of any so situated, and who feel, perhaps keenly, their secluded state, let them read the memoirs of that excellent man whose name stands at the head of this article, and let them learn a cheerful submission to the will of God, who chooses for every one of us the bounds of our habitations. The Rev. John Bold was born at Leicester, in 1679, and was the descendant of a respectable family, nearly related to the Wigleys of Scraptoft, of which one branch represented the borough of Leicester in parliament, and another sat for the city of Worcester. His early progress in learning was so great, that, at the age of fifteen, he was matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge; he was B.A. at the age of nineteen; but being somewhat straitened in circumstances, he retired to Hinckley, where he engaged in teaching a small endowed school at the "liberal" salary of 107. per annum. In May, 1702, he was ordained deacon by Dr. James Gardiner, Bishop of Lincoln, who was so pleased with Mr. Bold's proficiency in sacred learning, that he determined to make him his chaplain; but death prevented the good bishop from fulfilling his intention. The curacy to which he was ordained was Stoney Stanton, a secluded village in Leicestershire, about four or five miles from Hinckley. His stipend was 301. a year, which was never increased; and his whole property, on entering the parish, consisted in "his chamber furniture, and a library more valuable for being select than extensive." "Here," continues his biographer, "remote from polished and literary society, which he was calculated both to enjoy and adorn, he never cast any longing, lingering looks behind, but girded up the loins of his mind for diligent service in his narrow sphere. It will possibly be a matter of some interest to know how this good man contrived to exist on what must even in those days have been a very narrow income. On his first entrance to his cure, he marked out for himself a plan of living, which he continued to observe for the space of fifty years. At first he paid 81. for board and lodging at a farmer's house; this was afterwards increased to 127.; and ultimately, to 167. per annum. From the remainder of his income he gave away 57. in charity, and laid by 57. for his declining years, or for more permanent acts of benevolence. This left him 67. per annum for clothes and other incidental expenses, and yet he had great regard to personal neatness and propriety. He always wore a gown and bands, and appeared always attired in the same decent but plain manner, into whatever company he went. "His daily fare consisted of water gruel for his breakfast; a plate from the farmer's table, with whom he boarded, supplied his dinner; after dinner, one half pint of ale, of his own brewing, was his only luxury; he took no tea, and his supper was on milk pottage. In the winter, he read and wrote by the farmer's fireside; in the summer, in his own room." After leading this simple life for more than forty years, advancing age began to incapacitate him for the full discharge of his public duties; but his annual savings of 51., which had been put out to interest, enabled him to secure the services of a coadjutor during the last six years of his life. He divided his little stipend with a clergyman holding a small property in the parish, making up the deficiency from his savings. On Oct. 29th, 1751, at the age of seventy-three, he departed this life for a better; and bequeathed to the farmer with whom he had lodged 100%., another 100l. to some of his relatives, and 407., to be placed out at interest, for the benefit of the poor of his parish, and for an annual sermon in support of church doctrine and discipline in opposition to the loose notions which were propagated by Wesley and his followers. Having thus glanced at his mode of life, let us view him as a parish priest. How uncongenial soever might at first have appeared his situation, he had not held his curacy a twelvemonth before he formed the resolution of remaining there for life as a living sacrifice for the benefit of his flock, and with a view of making his example and doctrine the more striking and effective, by his permanent residence and labours in one and the same place. (1.) With respect to the public duties of his church, he commenced the business of the Sunday on the Saturday evening by publicly instructing the children of the parish in the elements of religion. He had two full services on Sunday, a service daily during Lent, and on every Wednesday and Friday and festival throughout the year : "If any were absent from the duty of the church on the Lord's-day, he failed not to visit them the following morning; if they were sick, to administer the consolation of his prayers; or, otherwise, to admonish them of their duty. This is beyond doubt the most painful, difficult, and delicate part of the ministerial office; yet in the divine word it is bound upon the ministry by such sanctions, no less than the loss of their own souls if neglected, and also by the ordination vows of priests in our own church, that public or private admonition, or both, as circumstances reVOL. XX.-July, 1841. C quire, must be given by the ministers of religion if they either regard their duty or their own future salvation." (2.) With regard to his more private and friendly intercourse with his flock "His disposition was social, though restrained by a self-denial necessary to his character. When he went abroad upon his pastoral visits, he would rarely if ever accept a courtesy beyond a pipe, and after a short but civil visit would retire; but as the poor were pleased with his company at the christening of a child, he would sometimes accept an invitation to partake of their humble fare in order to augment their pleasures, and leave a present in money fully adequate to his entertainment. And if the respect of any parishioner sent him anything better than his usual fare for his table, he would give it for the common use of the family in which he resided. In this manner he maintained that independency of character and self-denial which is necessary to the proper discharge of the ministerial office." (3.) Let us now contemplate the effects of these diligent and selfdenying labours. "I have often,' said an old man to me, [Mr. Nickolls, his biographer and successor, after some interval,] at the ringing of the bell on Saturday afternoon, left my plough for half an hour for instruction, and afterwards returned to it again.' And another aged man said, Ah, Sir, that was a fine team I drove when I was young; but, Sir, whenever the church bell rang at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, I always left my team when at plough to come to Mr. Bold to be catechized, and then went back again to plough." From the same account it appears, that for many years after the decease of this excellent pastor, the parish was distinguished for loyalty, order, sobriety, and a devout attendance on the public services of the church. In some respects, indeed, our rural parishes were in a happier and healthier moral state than they are at present; but here Mr. Nickolls shall speak for himself: "There were several incidental circumstances that conspired to assist Mr. Bold's success in his ministry. The parish was not then enclosed, but in the open field state, occupied chiefly by little freeholders and agriculturists, who were not either so much employed or so poor as not to afford time for religious instruction. Such of the parishioners as were in good circumstances (none of them were opulent) united with Mr. Bold in promoting parochial harmony, and in accommodating all matters in question without reference to attorneys or lawsuits; and except in the case of a discharged soldier who was guilty of robbing, I cannot learn that any felonious act was committed in the parish for half a century-tantum potuit religio. The parish was so fortunate as to have no necessity for many years of poor-rates, and was not oppressed with manufacturers, of which there were not more than two. The enclosure of the open field (not common) obliged the little freeholders to sell out, abridged tillage, promoted pasturage, so that we do not now produce corn sufficient to supply the village; and the stocking manufacture being resorted to for support, the poor-rates are increased from almost nothing to about 300l. a-year. We are crowded with the stocking manufacturers, who take apprentices for the little fee of five pounds, and they become vicious in their morals or by improvident conduct; and marrying without means of support, bring such burdens upon the parish by their families, and distresses when trade slackens, as injure greatly the agricultural interest, especially the lower class of farmers; and with respect to religious instruction, the manufacturing classes of the lower orders are most adverse to the reception of it, except indeed where their employers will interest themselves, and use their authority and money to promote attention to it." Having thus contemplated the character of this worthy man, what is particularly worthy of note is, that this is not an instance of a good pious man, of little knowledge, of little talent, labouring and passing his life among people of his own class, (as has been and is the case with many very worthy men, especially in the northern counties ;) but Mr. Bold was a man who might reasonably and naturally have looked for a more prominent sphere of duty. He was a learned man, a close and constant student; he was particularly well read in the fathers and the earlier English theologians. He was an elegant writer; his style is thought to approach nearer to the purity and simplicity of that of Addison than any contemporary writer. He was also gifted with the graces of elocution-an impressive, an eloquent preacher; yet was he contented to count all his talents and acquirements as nought, in order to be made the instrument of leading his humble parishioners in the ways of godliness. He refused preferment when it was offered to him, (as it was by the Wigley family,) but chose to live and die in the station in which it appeared to him he could best promote the interest of Christ's church. He wrote several tracts, which were (and may be now) on the list of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. They are all upon the subject which was always nearest his heart, a frequent and devout attendance on the worship of God. The titles are as follows: 1. The Sin and Danger of Neglecting the Public Service of the Church. By a Presbyter of the Church of England. 1745. 8vo. 2. Religion the most Delightful Employment, &c.; with an earnest recommendation of the three great duties of family prayer, of attending daily the public service of God, and of frequenting the holy communion with devotion, &c. 3. The Duty of Worthy Communicating. A number of MSS. sermons are also said to be in existence, and to be deserving of publication. His admirer and biographer, Mr. Nickolls, has enclosed his grave, and placed over it a tablet, with the inscription, "Let me die the death of the righteous," &c.; and with one more quotation from his memoir this account shall close :- "When I first came to reside here, the good woman who had attended him when she was very young also attended me, and placed me in his bed, and in a room be occupied. After airing the bed she retired, but presently returned with a hassock, which placing by the bed-side, she said, 'Sir, this is the hassock Mr. Bold used to kneel upon.' It was worn into hollows by his knees. Blessed saint! thy poverty and humility are changed to durable riches and glory, thy life transcends my power of imitation; and yet, propter amorem, quod te imitari aveo. May divine grace, not considering my unworthiness, but the worthiness of him who was our common Master, make my latter end to be full of peace like thine! I have loved thy memory because thou didst so entirely love him; I have guarded thy remains from profanation because they are to be raised in glory; I hope to repose by thee, and when I depart, may it please the divine goodness to send thee as one of its ministering spirits to smile on me trembling, and assist me to your blessed abode." T. S. |