CHAPTER II.

FROM THE CAROLINE REFORM TO THE SETTLEMENT OF WILLIAM III.

_Ruunt agmine facto_ _In me profana turba Roma Genevaque._ PROVOST CHAPPEL’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

The first fifty years of this History passed away without much apparent advance. The attempt to supply additional room by providing two residence-halls in the city (Bridge Street and Back Lane) turned out a complete failure.[38] As the College grew richer by King James’ gifts of Ulster lands, the quarrels of the Fellows and Provost were increased by this new interest. They were also still constitution-mongering, and we do not find that the only Dublin man, Robert Ussher, who was Provost during this period, was more successful than the imported Cambridge men. Among the Fellows appointed, if we except the remarkable group of founders, not a single name of note appears save Joshua Hoyle, who came from Oxford, and who was afterwards Professor of Divinity, and Master of University College, Oxford. The rest supplied the Church of Ireland with some respectable dignitaries, but nothing more. We know that these things were weighing on the mind of the great Primate, who could remember the high hopes and the enthusiasm of Dublin when the College was founded. He was convinced that the Fellows wasted their energies in College politics, and that the Provost had insufficient powers to control them. Laud surely speaks the words of Ussher when he says that the College is reported to him as “being as ill-governed as any in Christendom.” Archbishop Ussher must have been determined to take from the Fellows the management of their own affairs, and entrust it to a Provost nominated by the Crown, administering Statutes fixed by the Crown, and only to be altered with its sanction. This great reform he carried out by having his friend Archbishop Laud appointed Chancellor, and so having a new Charter forced, in 1637, upon the College--the Caroline Statutes.[39] It was indeed a strong measure to take from the College its self-government, but it was done after due deliberation by wise men; and the results have certainly answered their expectations. It should, however, be added, in fairness to those who failed during the first 45 years to maintain order, that the Crown, while professing to give absolute liberty by Statute, had constantly interfered in appointments, and violated the privileges granted by Elizabeth. Nor indeed did the Caroline Statutes, which much internal evidence shows to be the work of Ussher as well as Laud, succeed forthwith. The experiment was baulked at the outset by the unfortunate appointment of Chappel as Provost, a famous logician, but a weak and not very honest man,[40] whose conduct was about to be impeached by the Irish Parliament, when the Rebellion of 1641 burst upon the land. Chappel was then Bishop of Cork, but had refused to resign the Provostship. Ten years of misery supervened, when Chappel and the next Provost, Wassington, fled home to England, when Faithful Tate and Dudley Loftus strove as vice-regents to hold together the affairs of the starving College; when the estates were in the rebels’ hands, the valuable plate was pawned or melted, Provost Martin dying of the plague which followed upon massacre and starvation:[41] the intellectual heart of Ireland suffered with its members, and responded to the agonies of the loyal population with sufferings not less poignant.

Nevertheless, the appointment of the Lord Deputy, Ormonde (a great benefactor to the College at the worst moment), as Chancellor is dated the 12th March, 1644. He was chosen to succeed Laud. The actual deed is now at Kilkenny Castle.[42] The appointment of the Chancellor was made by the Provost (Anthony Martin, Bishop of Meath) and a majority of the Senior Fellows. Ormonde came back with the Restoration, and in high favour.

The horror of civil war in England was added to make the cup flow over. Charles, Laud, and Ussher were too engrossed with their own troubles to promote the regeneration of the College which they had commenced, and so we find that this decennium of anarchy was only ended by the strong hand of Cromwell, who undertook to establish order in Ireland. The “crowd of Geneva” were accordingly established in the College; but justice must admit that Henry Cromwell as Chancellor, and Winter as Provost, behaved with good sense and zeal in promoting the interests of learning. They, of course, pressed home their doctrines upon the students; Winter called to the College zealous controversialists of distinguished piety;[43] private Christian meetings among the students were encouraged rather than official Chapels. Such of the former officers as acquiesced in these things--the Vice-Chancellor Henry Jones, who dropped his title of Bishop, and Stearne the physician--were continued for the sake of their learning. The care of outward neatness appears from the entries forbidding linen to be dried in the courts; they had washed it there long enough. The Provost undertook several journeys to the remote parts of Ireland, to recover the abandoned properties and collect the rents of the College. To the Commonwealth, moreover, is due the foundation (1652) of the School of Mathematics, which has since become so famous. This initial step was advanced by the bequest of Lord Donegal (1660), whose Lecturership is still known by his name.

When the Restoration supervened, Winter and his intimates were expelled as intruders, and a new governing body and scholars appointed. But as Cromwell had taken care to keep up the traditions of the College by continuing some of the previous Fellows, so the Government of Charles II. reappointed several men who had stood by the College all through the interregnum, and saved the continuity of its teaching. Above all, the framers of the well-known Act of Settlement took special care of the College, securing to it all the estates to which it had a claim, and even endowing the Provost with charges upon forfeited lands in the Archbishopric of Dublin. Provisions were made for the founding of a second College under the University; presently Dr. Stearne obtained a Charter for the College of Physicians at Trinity Hall, close to the Green, in connection with the College. Ussher’s books, which were still lying in Dublin Castle, though long since purchased by Cromwell’s soldiers for the College, were now formally handed over to it; and in every way its interests were fostered and promoted. The Duke of Ormonde as Lord Deputy, and also as Chancellor of the University, and Bishop Jeremy Taylor as Vice-Chancellor, may be regarded as the main movers in this policy; whether other secret influences were at work I have not been able to ascertain.[44] How firm and wise a friend of the College Ormonde was, appears from the following protest he made to the then Secretary of State. An Englishman had just been nominated to an Irish bishopric. “It is fit that it should be remembered that near this city there is an University of the foundation of Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the education and advantage of the natives of this kingdom, which hath produced men very eminent for learning and piety, and those of this nation, and such there are in the Church: so that, while there are such, the passing them by is not only, in some measure, a violation of the original intention and institution, but a great discouragement to the natives from making themselves capable and fit for preferment in the Church, whereunto, if they have equal parts, they are better able to do service than strangers; their knowledge of the country and relations in it giving them the advantage. The promotion, too, of the already dignified or beneficed will make room for, and consequently encourage, students in the University, which room will be lost, and the inferior clergy much disheartened, if, upon the vacancy of bishopricks, persons unknown to the kingdom and University shall be sent to fill them, and be less useful there to Church and kingdom than those who are better acquainted with them.”[45] The scandalous policy of setting obscure and careless Englishmen to govern competent Irishmen, which reached its climax under Primate Boulter’s influence, has now veered round so completely that there is an outcry if an incompetent Irishman is not preferred to any Englishman, however competent. Both extremes lead to the same mischief--estrangement in sentiment from England, and in consequence narrow provincialism, which lowers the standard to be expected in important posts, by selecting the best local man, instead of the best man in Great Britain and Ireland, or even (for scientific appointments) in Europe.

But though the College was thus secured in ultimate material prosperity, there was for some years great difficulty in realising property, and we find elections postponed for want of funds in 1664 and 1666. A Fellow, William Leckey, was executed in Dublin for participation in the plot of 1663 against the King. Still worse, we still find in what Jeremy Taylor describes as “the little, but excellent University of Dublin,”[46] great poverty in profound scholarship. Two eminent men had indeed come out of Trinity College in this generation. Dudley Loftus and Henry Dodwell were second to none of their contemporaries in learning. Dodwell was offered a Chair at Oxford solely upon his general reputation. The catalogue of his and Loftus’ extant works is still astonishing. Loftus combined in him the blood of the talented adventurer Adam Loftus with the far sounder blood of the Usshers.[47] But these men would not or could not be Provosts--so that high office fell to such men as Seele, the son of a verger at Christ Church, esteemed highly by his contemporaries,[48] and Ward, who was of the old Loftus type, having come over from England, and obtained five great promotions, ending with the See of Derry, in which he died, at the age of 39! No wonder that clever lads sought their fortune in Ireland. Ward “was esteemed a person of fine conversation and of great sagacity in dextrously managing proper conjunctures, to which qualities his rise to so many preferments in so short a time was ascribed.”[49]

It was a very great improvement, and of great service to the College, when the Duke of Ormonde reverted again to Oxford, and brought over as Provost Narcissus Marsh, whose Library at S. Sepulchre’s still attests the learning and wide interests of the man. Like every Provost in those days, he was promptly advanced to the Episcopal Bench; the College then afforded a stepping-stone to the episcopal as it now does to the judicial Bench; and if its rulers are now usually very old, they were then very young. Marsh was only five years Provost before his promotion, and yet even in that short time he produced a lasting effect upon the College. What would such a man have accomplished in a lifetime of enlightened government! But he was essentially a student, and the duties of the Provost were not then, as they now are, compatible with a learned leisure.

January 1678/9.--Finding the place very troublesome, partly by reason of the multitude of business and important visits the Provost is obliged to, and partly by reason of the ill education that the young scholars have before they come to the College, whereby they are both rude and ignorant, I was quickly weary of 340 young men and boys in this lewd, debauched town, and the more so because I had no time to follow my dearly beloved studies.[50]

I have already noted that this enterprising Englishman was bent on promoting the study of the Irish language. Let me quote what Dr. Stubbs says--

“Among the Smith MSS. in the Bodleian Library is preserved a letter[51] from Marsh when Primate, in which he gives some account of the condition of the College during his residence as Provost. He was particularly anxious, as he states, that the thirty Irish-born Scholars, who then enjoyed salaries equal to those of the Junior Fellows, should be thoroughly trained to speak and write the Irish language. He desired that these should be a body from which the parochial clergy of Ireland might be recruited, in order that the people should have the ministrations of religion in their own language. The majority of the Natives knew nothing of the grammar of the language, and could make no attempt to read it, or to write it. In order to counteract this ignorance, Marsh determined that he would not elect to a native’s place any scholar who was not ready to learn the Irish language thoroughly, and that he would not allow them to retain their places unless they made satisfactory progress. To enable them to do this, he employed a converted Roman Catholic priest, Paul Higgins, who was a good Irish scholar, and who had been admitted as a clergyman of the Irish Church, to reside in his house, and to give instruction to the Scholars of the College,[52] at a salary of £16 a-year and his board. He had also the Church Service read in Irish, and an Irish sermon preached by Higgins in the College Chapel on one Sunday afternoon in every month, at 3 P.M. These services seem to have been open to the public; and we learn from Marsh’s letters that the ancient Chapel was crowded by hearers on the occasion of the Irish sermons, the congregation numbering as many as three hundred. We have no record of the continuance of these Irish services after Marsh ceased to be Provost.”

He also promoted the study of mathematics, hitherto of little moment in the College. He founded a Philosophical Society, as a sort of offshoot of the Royal Society of London, to which he contributed a learned paper on Musical Sounds. The curious collection of ancient music still extant in his Library (bequeathed for the use of the City of Dublin, but mainly intended for a Diocesan Library) shows that he had a special interest in this subject. He wrote for the students a sensible text-book of Logic (_see fac-simile of title-page, p. 37_). He got a new and larger Chapel built, which lasted till 1798. But he was still in the era when the College authorities had no idea of building ornamentally. The houses and halls were merely modest constructions for use, and Dr. Campbell is quoted as describing them:--

The Chapel is as mean a structure as you can conceive; destitute of monumental decoration within; it is no better than a Welsh Church without. The old Hall, where College exercises are performed, is in the same range, and built in the same style.--_Op. cit._ p. 117.

This is, I think, to be said of all the buildings in Dublin during the seventeenth century. So far as I know, the earliest, and perhaps the best attempt at artistic architecture is the Library, which was not commenced till 1709.[53] All the handsome houses in Dublin date from after the middle of the eighteenth century.

When Marsh was promoted--he became ultimately Archbishop of Dublin and then Primate--Ormonde, the Chancellor, chose another Orientalist, Huntingdon of Merton College, to succeed him. But he was by no means so able a man; he came over with great reluctance (1686), and immediately decamped upon the outbreak of the second great tumult, which turned out even worse for the College than 1641--the Revolution under James II., and the war which was only concluded by William’s victory at the Boyne. The Revolution was a sore blow for the College, which was now rapidly rising both in wealth and in intellectual position. The Senior Fellows did all they could to conciliate James II., without, however, denying their own Protestant character. The King, a weak man, gave them civil words; but they had to deal with his advisers, who varied widely in their aims and hopes from those of moderate men. The Acts passed by the brief Parliament of James II. have been recently brought into clear light by historians,[54] and the only wonder to be explained is the escape of the College from the secret Bill of Attainder which was to affect the liberties and properties of all Protestants, and from which not even the power of the Crown could grant remission. The anecdote how the members for the University kept out of the way, or sent the College butler out of the way,[55] and managed to have the College names omitted, seems to be a romance invented to explain an accidental omission, and to gain credit for some worthy people who did not fly to England or betray their public trust.

The first acts of aggression were demands to appoint creatures of Tyrconnell’s either to an Irish Lecturership which did not exist, or to Junior Fellowships, which required an oath of allegiance to the Crown and of adherence to the Church of England, as ordered by Charles II. in his _Act of Uniformity_. The Crown had been in the habit of appointing Fellows by mandamus, so that this proceeding was not so high-handed as it would be now-a-days. But the plain intention of James II.’s advisers, and especially of Tyrconnell, the Lord Deputy, was to force Roman Catholics into power and to dispossess Protestant interests. It is to the credit of the adventurers sent down to the College by Tyrconnell that they objected to take the oath. The Lord Deputy then stopped the Concordatum Fund of £400 a-year. It was a moment when the College so clearly felt its increasing numbers, that there was a proposal to sell some of the fast-accumulating plate to find funds in aid of new buildings. Apart from gifts made by the parents of pupils, there was a charge at matriculation for _argent_, as there still is in some Colleges at Oxford, and it seems to have been thought a convenient way of laying by money which could be easily realised in times of danger. How fast this plate had accumulated since the disasters of 1641 may be inferred from the fact that the College actually embarked 3,990 ounces of silver to be sent to London (7th February, 1687). On the 12th, Tyrconnell was sworn in Lord Deputy, and had the plate seized. The College reclaimed it, and ultimately recovered it on condition of laying out the money in the purchase of land. It seems to have brought 5s. per ounce, and is said to have been “profitably” invested. If the College now possessed it, the money value would not be less than £5 per ounce; its value in adding dignity to the establishment is not easily estimable. As Dr. Stubbs says, the succeeding events are best told from the College Register, which he quotes:--

_January 9, 1688/9._--The College stock being very low, and there being little hopes of the coming in of the rents, the following retrenchment of the College expenses was agreed upon by the Vice-Provost and Senior Fellows.

_January 24, 1688/9._--The Visitors of the College did approve of the said retrenchment, which is as follows:--Ordered by the Vice-Provost and Senior Fellows, because the College is reduced to a low condition by the infelicity of the times (no tenants paying any rents, and at present our stock being almost exhausted), it was ordered that there should be a retrenchment of our expenses according to the model following; the approbation of our Visitors being first obtained:--

_Inp._--That there shall be but one meal a-day in the Hall, and that a dinner, because the supper is the more expensive meal by reason of coals, &c. 2. That every Fellow be allowed but three pence in the Kitchen per diem, and one penny in the Buttery. 3. That the Scholars be allowed their full allowance according to the Statutes, but after this manner, viz.:--To each Scholar in the Kitchen two pence per diem, except on Friday, on which but three half pence. To each Scholar in the Buttery his usuall allowance, which was one penny half penny per diem. To each Scholar at night shall be allowed out of the Buttery one half penny in cheese or butter, except on Friday night, and that will compleat the Statute allowance. 4. That whereas the Statute allowance to each Fellow in Buttery and Kitchen is five shillings and three pence per week, and the present allowance comes but to two shillings and four pence, therefore it is ordered that whenever the College is able, the first payments shall be made to the Fellows to compleat their Statute allowance in Commons. All these clauses above mentioned are to be understood in relation to those that are resident. And if it shall happen that the Society shall be forc’t to break up, and quit the place through extreme necessity, or any publick calamity, that then all members of the said Society shall for the interim have full title and claim to all profits and allowances in their severall stations and offices respectively, when it shall please God to bring about a happy restoration. 5. That proportionable deductions be made from what was formerly allow’d to the Cooks for decrements, furzes, &c. 6. That the additional charge of Saturday’s dinners be laid aside. 7. That for the future no Scholar of the House be allow’d Commons that is indebted to his Tutor, and that no Master of Arts, Fellow Commoner, or Pensioner, be kept in Commons that has not deposited sufficient caution money in the Bursar’s hands. 8. That whereas we are resolved to keep up the Society as long as possibly we can, therefore ’tis ordered that as soon as the College money shall fail, all the plate now in our custody be sold or pawned to defray the charges above mentioned. We, the Visitors of the College above mentioned, having considered the expediency of the above retrenchment, do allow and approve thereof.

FRANCIS DUBLIN. DIVE DOWNES. ANT. MEATH. JOHN BARTON. RICHARD ACTON, _Vice-Provost_. BEN. SCROGGS. GEORGE BROWN.

_January 24, 1688/9._--It was agreed upon by the Vice-Provost and Senior Fellows that the Manuscripts in the Library, the Patents, and other writings belonging to the College, be transported into England. At the same time it was resolved that the remainder of the plate should be immediately sold, excepting the Chappel Plate. The same day the College waited on the Lord Deputy, and desired leave to transport the remainder of their plate into England, because they could not sell it here without great loss.

The Lord Deputy refused leave.

_February 19, 1688/9._--It was agreed on by the Vice-Provost and Senior Fellows that two hundred pounds of the College money should be sent into England for the support of those Fellows that should be forc’t to fly thither. At the same time the dangers of staying in the College seemed so great that it was judged reasonable that all those that thought fit to withdraw themselves from the College for their better security might have free liberty so to do.

_February 25, 1688/9._--All the Horse, Foot, and Dragoons, were drawn out and posted at severall places in the town, from whence they sent parties, who searcht the Protestant houses for arms, whilst others were employed in breaking into stables and taking away all their horses. Two Companies of Foot, commanded by Talbot, one of the Captains in the Royal Regiment of Foot Guards, came into the College, searcht all places, and took away those few fusils, swords, and pistols, that they found. At the same time a party of Dragoons broke open the College stables and took away all the horses. The Foot continued in the College all night; the next day they were drawn off. On the same day it was agreed on by the Vice-Provost and Senior Fellows that the Fellows and Scholars should receive out of the College trunk (the two hundred pounds not being sent into England as was design’d) their salaries for their respective Fellowships, Offices, and Scholarships, which will be due at the end of this current quarter, together with their allowance for Commons for the said quarter.

_March 1, 1688/9._--Dr. Browne, Mr. Downes, Mr. Barton, Mr. Ashe, and Mr. Smyth, embark’t for England; soon after follow’d Mr. Scroggs, Mr. Leader, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Sayers, and Mr. Hasset. Mr. Patrickson soon after died; and (of ye Fellows) only Dr. Acton, Mr. Thewles, Mr. Hall, and Mr. Allen, continued in the College.

_March 12, 1688/9._--King James landed in Ireland; and upon the 24th of the same month, being Palm Sunday, he came to Dublin. The College, with the Vice-Chancellor, waited upon him, and Mr. Thewles made a speech, which he seemed to receive kindly, and promis’d ’em his favour and pretection;[56] [but upon the 16th of September, 1689, without any offence as much as pretended, the College was seized on for a garrison by the King’s order, the Fellows turned out, and a Regiment of Foot took possession and continued in it.[57]]

_June 13, 1689._--Mr. Arthur Greene having petitioned the King for a Senior Fellowship, the case was refer’d to Sir Richard Nagle; upon which he sent an order to the Vice-Provost and Fellows to meet him at his house on Monday, the 17th, to shew reason why the aforesaid petition shud not be granted. The reasons offer’d were many, part of ’em drawn from false allegations in the petition, part from the petitioner’s incapacity in several respects to execute the duty of a Senior Fellow; and the conclusion was in these words: There are much more important reasons drawn, as well from the Statutes relating to religion, as from the obligation of oaths which we have taken, and the interests of our religion, which we will never desert, that render it wholly impossible, without violating our consciences, to have any concurrence, or to be any way concerned, in the admission of him.

_July 24._--The Vice-Provost and Fellows, with consent of the Vice-Chancellor, sold a peece of plate weighing about 30 ounces for subsistence of themselves and the Scholars that remained.

_September 6._--The College was seized on for a Garrison by the King’s order, and Sir John Fitzgerald took possession of it. Upon Wednesday the 11th, it was made a prison for the Protestants of the City, of whom a great number were confined to the upper part of the Hall. Upon the 16th the Scholars were all turned out by souldiers, and ordered to carry nothing with ’em but their books. But Mr. Thewles and some others were not permitted to take their books with ’em. Lenan, one of the Scholars of the House, was sick of the small-pox, and died, as it was supposed, by removing. At the same time the King sent an order to apprehend six of the Fellows and Masters, and commit ’em to the main guard, and all this without any provocation or crime as much as pretended; but the Bishop of Meath, our Vice-Chancellor, interceded with the King, and procured the last order to be stopt.

_September 28._--The Chappel-plate and the Mace were seized on and taken away. The plate was sent to the Custom-house by Colonel Lutterel’s order; but it was preserved by Mr. Collins, one of the Commissioners of the Revenue.

_October 21._--Several persons, by order of the Government, seized upon the Chappel and broke open the Library. The Chappel was sprinkled and new consecrated and Mass was said in it; but afterwards being turned into a storehouse for powder, it escaped all further damage. The Library and Gardens and the Provost’s lodgings were committed to the care of one Macarty, a Priest and Chaplain to ye King, who preserved ’em from the violence of the souldiers, but the Chambers and all other things belonging to ye College were miserably defaced and ruined.[58]

We find in the _Dublin Magazine_ for August, 1762, p. 54, the following petition of the Roman Catholic Prelates of Ireland, which was probably presented to James II. at this time:--

“HUMBLY SHEWETH

“That the Royal College of Dublin is the only University of this Kingdom, and now wholly at your Majesty’s disposal, the teachers and scholars having deserted it.

“That before the Reformation it was common to all the natives of this country, as the other most famous Universities of Europe to theirs, respectively, and the ablest Scholars of this Nation preferred to be professors and teachers therein, without any distinction of orders, congregations, or politic bodies, other than that of true merit, as the competent judges of learning and piety, after a careful and just scrutiny did approve.

“That your petitioners being bred in foreign Colleges and Universities, and acquainted with many of this Nation, who in the said Universities purchased the credit and renown of very able men in learning, do humbly conceive themselves to be qualified for being competent and proper judges of the fittest to be impartially presented to your Majesty, and employed as such directors and teachers (whether secular or regular clergymen) as may best deserve it, which as is the practice of other Catholic Universities, so it will undoubtedly prove a great encouragement to learning, and very advantageous to this Nation, entirely devoted to your Majesty’s interest.

“Your petitioners therefore do most humbly pray that your Majesty may be graciously pleased to let your Irish Catholic subjects make use of the said College for the instruction of their youth, and that it may be a general Seminary for the clergy of this Kingdom, and that either all the bishops, or such of them as your Majesty will think fit (by your Royal authority and commission), present the most deserving persons to be directors and teachers in the said College, and to oversee it, to the end it may be well ruled and truly governed, and pure orthodox doctrine, piety and virtue be taught and practised therein, to the honour and glory of God, propagation of his true religion, and general good of your Majesty’s subjects in this realm, and as in duty bound they will ever pray,” &c.

And the following petition from the heads of the College appears upon the Register:--

“TO THE KING’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

“THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE VICE-PROVOST, FELLOWS, AND SCHOLARS OF TRINITY COLLEGE, NEAR DUBLIN,

“HUMBLY SHEWETH

“That your Petitioners have continued in the College under your Majesty’s most gracious protection, acting pursuant to the Statutes and Charters granted by your Majesty’s Royal Father and others your Royal Ancestors, And during your Majesty’s absence upon the 6th day of September last, by orders pretended to be derived from your Majesty, Guards were placed in the said College, That upon ye 16th of ye said month Sir John Fitzgerald came with a great body of armed men, and forceably dispossest your Petitioners, and not only dis-seized them of their tenure and freehold, but also seized on the private goods of many of your Petitioners, to their great damage and the ruin and destruction of that place; that upon the 28th of the said month, under pretence for a search for arms, seizure was made by one Hogan of the Sacred Chalices and other holy vessels belonging to ye Altar of the Chappel, and also of the Mace; that upon the 21st of October several persons pretending orders from the Government broke open the door of the Library, and possest themselves of the Chappel: by all which proceedings your Petitioners conceive themselves totally ejected out of their freehold, and despoiled of their propertyes and goods, contrary to your Majesty’s laws, tho’ your Petitioners have acted nothing against their duty either as subjects or members of ye College. May it therefore please,” &c.

_November 20, 1689._--The Vice-Provost and Fellows met together and elected the same officers that were chosen the year before.

Facta est hæc Electio a Vice Præposito et Sociis Junioribus locum Sociorum Seniorum supplentibus, quam Præposito et Sociis Senioribus (cum conveniat) vel confirmandam, vel irritam reddendam reliquimus. R. Acton, G. Thewles, Js. Hall, J. Allen.

_December._--About the beginning of this month Dr. Acton died of a fever.

At the Court at Dublin Castle, April 11th, 1690. Present the King’s Most Excellent Majestie in Council.

“Whereas His Majestie has been gratiously pleased to appoint the Right Honorable the L^d High Chancellor of Ireland to visit and view Trinity College, near Dublin, and the Records and Library thereunto belonging, and whereas his Majestie is given to understand this day in Council that Mr. George Thewles and Mr. John Hall have several Keyes belonging to ye said College in their custody, and refuse to deliver the same to his Lordship in order to view the said College records and Library; his Majestie is gratiously pleased to order, and doth hereby order the said Mr. George Thewles and John Hall, or either of them, forthwith to deliver the said Keyes to the L^d High Chancellor, as they shall answer the same at their peril.

“HUGH REILY, _Copia Vera_.”

Upon receipt of this Mr. Thewles and Mr. Hall consulted the Vice-Chancellor and delivered the Keyes.

_April 15, 1690._--Received from Mr. George Thewles and Mr. John Hall, by his Majesties order in Council, ten Keyes belonging to the trunks and presses in the repository of ye College of Dublin by me.

FYTTON, _C._

_June 14, 1690._--King William landed at Carrick Fergus, and the same day Mr. Thewles died of a fever.

_July 1, 1690._--The armies of the English and Irish engaged at the Boyne, and the Irish being routed, King James returned that night to Dublin, and commanded his army not to plunder or do any harm to the city, which order was observed by ye Irish.

_July 15, 1690._--Mr. Scroggs landed, and immediately after Dr. Browne, and then Mr. Downes, Mr. Reader, the Provost, &c.[59]

The Fellows and Scholars that returned were allowed their Commons, but their salary was reduced by agreement to the old Statute allowance, both for Fellowships and places, till the College revenues shall increase.

Before King William left Ireland he gave order to ye College to seize upon all books that belonged to forfeiting Papists; but the order not being known till about half a-year after, the greatest part of the books were lost, but those which were recovered, and worth anything, were placed in the Countess of Bath’s library.[60]

The interesting features in this crisis were, first, the steadfast and courageous behaviour of Dr. Acton and his three colleagues, two of whom sacrificed their lives for the good of the College; secondly, the excellent conduct of the two Roman Catholic priests, Moore and Macarthy, who not only exerted themselves with great humanity to save the Fellows and scholars and their property from outrage, but showed a real love and respect for learning, and a desire to maintain the College for the real objects of its foundation.[61] Thus, if it had not been for the narrowness of controversialists and the violence of soldiers, the assaults of Rome and Geneva were by no means so disastrous as might have been expected. Nevertheless, the College came out of the crisis of James II. with great loss of books, furniture, plate, rents--in fact, for the moment in great distress--but still the buildings were safe;[62] the character of the College must have been greatly raised by the conduct of its Fellows; there had been no time to occupy the estates with new adventurers; and the policy of the new King, in spite of his well-known Liberal instincts, must necessarily be strongly Protestant after the recent outburst of the opposite party under his opponent, and therefore made him a firm friend of the persecuted College.

Before closing this chapter, we may say a word upon the changing aspect of the College and its surroundings, especially College Green. The foundation of the College soon brought with it a desire to build houses in its neighbourhood. But in Bedell’s diary we find that the first permission given by the Corporation to build houses close to the gate was frustrated by the students raiding upon the works, and carrying the building-plant into the College. The builder, indeed, recovered it by the interference of the Provost, but whether the building proceeded is doubtful. Still, we hear of Archbishop Ussher lodging in College Green in 1632, a very few years after; and a lodging fit for the Primate can have been no mean dwelling. There were several sites granted on the north side of Dame Street by the Corporation to gentlemen of quality, who built houses, with gardens stretching behind them to the river. I have found mention of three of these before 1640. Presently two larger mansions were erected there--Clancarty House, at the foot of the present S. Andrew’s Street, and opposite it Chichester House, always a large mansion, often used for Courts, and even Parliaments, till the present remarkable building was set upon its site. It was one of the objections urged in 1668 to Trinity Hall (the site of the present S. Andrew’s Church) for holding students, that they could not hear the College bell owing to the number of intervening houses. Thus Dublin must have been rapidly growing out in this direction.[63] There are houses in Dawson Street and Molesworth Street whose gables show them to belong to the 17th century. So likewise in the streets off South Great George’s Street there are still many houses which bear the clear character of Dublin building from 1660 to 1700. All the churches were remodelled or rebuilt in the end of this or in the succeeding century. But, as I have already said, there was as yet no thought of stately or ornamental house architecture. The existing blocks of that date in Trinity College (Nos. 22-31) show what was accomplished, and though far better than the buildings of “Botany Bay,” which came a century later, are nevertheless mainly interesting from their date as marking an epoch in this History. There is no hint that the other lodgings for students, since taken down, were in any sense ornamental.

I turn, in concluding this chapter, to the interesting question of the recognition of sports and games among the students--a recognition which reached its climax under Provost Hutchinson. The following passage gives us some facts and dates:--

There does not appear to have been any arrangement for the recreation of the Students inside the College until 1684, when we find the following entry on August 13:--“The ground for the Bowling-green was granted, and the last Commencement supper fees were allowed towards the making of it.” The bowling-green, which was near the present gymnasium and racquet-court, and probably on the site of the existing [lawn] tennis-courts, was maintained until early in this century, and a portion of the entrance fees of Fellow Commoners was applied to maintain it. On July 28, 1694, leave was given to build a fives-court at the east end of the Fellows’ garden. In Brooking’s map of Dublin there appears to have been, in 1728, a quadrangular walled-in court on the site of the present New Square, for the recreation of the Students. There were two gates giving access to this in the arches under numbers 23 and 25 in the Library Square, which is the oldest existing part of the College, and which was erected after [about] 1700. As the Students were prohibited from going out into the city without leave, it was obviously necessary that opportunities should be given for out-door amusements within the bounds; and the College Park had not been at this time laid out and planted. A number of small paddocks occupied at this period the site of the present Park; and the College Park, as we have it now, was first formed and planted with trees in 1722.[64]

Some comment upon this passage seems desirable. In the Elizabethan and Jacobean College recreations for the students were not only ignored but forbidden. Young men came there and were maintained at the expense of the Institution, not to play, but to work, as I have above explained. This strictly theological notion was now giving way to a secular aspect of things, which tolerated the residence of students in the city,[65] and received wealthy young men, who came to spend, not to earn money. The facts just quoted are therefore interesting in showing that this change of spirit was now accomplished. For in colleges outward acts follow slowly upon new convictions.

FOOTNOTES:

[38] At the moment that Sir William Brereton visited Dublin (July, 1635), the College and Church of the Jesuits in Back Lane, with its carved pulpit and high altar, had lately (1633) been annexed to Trinity College, and lectures were held there every Tuesday, Lord Corke paying for the Lecturer. Brereton also saw a cloister and Chapel of the Capuchins, which had been turned into S. Stephen’s Hall, in which 18 scholars of the College were then accommodated. It is remarkable that all attempts, whether promoted by the College or not, to shape the University of Trinity College according to the peculiar model of Oxford and Cambridge have failed.

[39] It is, indeed, rehearsed with great care in these Statutes that they are approved of by the Provost and Fellows, and imposed with their consent; but that consent was extorted by interfering with the appointment of Provost, and choosing Chappel to carry out the new policy.

[40] He was Milton’s College Tutor, and is said to be the Damœtas in _Lycidas_. All the histories tell the anecdote of his pressing his adversary in a public disputation at Cambridge so keenly that the unfortunate man swooned in the pulpit, when King James, who was present, took up the argument, and presently confessed himself worsted. This kind of subtlety may have enabled him to reconcile his various breaches of statute with his sworn obligations. His holding of the Bishopric and Provostship together was, however, openly sanctioned by Laud. His Latin autobiography gives us a picture quite inconsistent with the complaints of the Fellows and the resolutions of the Irish Parliament against him. It is a string of pious lamentations, _e.g._--

“Jam quindecim annos corpus vix ægrum traho Estque jubilæum hic annus ætatis meæ.

* * * * *

Subinde climactera nova vitæ meæ Incipit et excutit reliquias dentium Ante putrium, monetque mortis sim memor.”

[41] Martin seems to have been the best of the early Provosts. But he had special qualifications, being a Galway man, educated first in France, then at Cambridge, and then appointed a Fellow of the College, by competition, in 1610. Thus he added to his Irish blood and knowledge of the country a wide and various experience. But the terrible insurrection which swept over the land made these qualities of little import beside his moral strength. When driven from his Diocese of Meath, he was made temporary Provost, according to the petition of the Fellows, who found fault with Faithful Tate (Stubbs, appendix). He suffered further persecution from the Parliamentary Commissioners, but through all his adversities maintained the same constancy. “Is est qualis alii tantum videri volunt, et in humaniori literatura, et in vitæ integritate germanissimus, certe Nathaniel sine fraude.”--Taylor, p. 238.

[42] The reader will be glad to see the text of this document, which I have copied from the original in Lord Ormonde’s possession:--

“CUM PER MORTEM Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Guilielmi nup. Archiepi

“Cantuariensis et totius Angliæ primatis Dubliniensis nostra Academia Cancellarii necessario et nobili præsidio immature

“Sit orbata: nos Anthonius providentia divina Midensis E[=pus] Præpositus, et Socii Seniores Collegii [=sctæ] et individuæ

“Trinitatis Reginæ Elizabethæ juxta Dublin, secundum licentiam et potestatem nobis per Chartam fundationis

“Concessam, Honoratissimum Dominum, Dominum Jacobum Marchionem Ormoniæ, Comitem Ormoniæ et Ossoriæ, Vice-Comitem Thurles, Baronem de

“Arcloe, Dūm Locumtenentem, et generalem Gubernatorem Regni H[=ibni]æ et Regiæ Majestati a secretioribus conciliis, Virum

“Nunquam satis laudatum, de quo quicquid in laudem dicitur, infra meritum dicitur, Virum spectatæ integritatis et fidei erga principem et

“Patriam veræ Religionis acerrimum Vindicem, Literarum et Literatorum Mæcenatem amplissimum et de nobis imprimis et Collegio [=nso] in hisce

“Temporis angustiis optime meritum, quippe qui nos, et res nostras ad ruinam inclinantes adjutrice manu sustinuit, et ab internecione et

“Interitu sæpius vindicavit, ut antehac dignissimum semper censuimus, qui ad Clavem Academiæ sederet, ita nunc Academiæ p’dictæ

“Cancellarium junctis Suffragiis et Calculis eligimus, nominamus, et admittimus, Hancque dictionem nominationem et admissionem

“Subscriptis nominibus et communi Sigillo, et per litt p’ntes confirmamus. Datum e Collegio nostro duodecimo die Martii, Anno Dni. millesimo

“Sexcentesimo quadragesimo quarto.

“THO: SEELE. ANT: MIDENSIS, JO: KERDIFF.

“GUL. RAYMOND. Coll: p^{r.} p^{o.} THO: LOCKE. JA: BISHOPP.”

There is appended the common seal--viz., on thick red wax the College Arms as usual, but with towers domed and flagged, each flag blowing outwards, the harp much larger than usual, and shield surrounded by an oval, and round it the usual legend, with APRILL added, and the date (1612) in the space over the shield. See page 11 for seal, with some of the signatures of the Senior Fellows. Three of them who had been driven from their livings had petitioned the Lord Deputy to be restored to their Senior Fellowships, and accordingly now show their gratitude. Seele was afterwards Provost.

[43] Several are mentioned by Dr. Stubbs, _op. cit._ p. 95.

[44] As regards the estates, _cf._ Stubbs, p. 111. I add the copy of the appointment of Jeremy Taylor by Ormonde, preserved among the Ormonde MSS.:--“To all Xian people to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Know yee that I James Marquis of Ormonde Earle of Ormond Ossory and Brecknock Visct Thurles Lord Baron of Arcloe and Lanthony Lord of the Regalities and Libertyes of the County of Tiperary one of the Lords of his Ma^{ties} most Hon^{ble} privy Councell of both Kingdoms of England and Ireland Lord [&c., &c.] and Chancellor of the University of Dublyn considering the great learning the eminent Piety and the exemplary good life and conversacon of the Reverend Father in God Jeremy Taylour Doctor of Divinity and now Lord Bpp Elect of the United Bishoprick of Downe and Connor and his wisdome ability and experience in manageing and governing all affaires incident to the office of a Vice-Chancellor of an university and necessary for the advancement of Piety and Learning doe therefore hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said Reverend Father in God Doctor Jeremy Taylour Vice-Chancellor of the University aforesaid and doe by these presents authorize him to doe execute & performe all such act & acts Thing and Thinges & to exercise such powers & authorityes & to receive all such proffitts & benefitts as to the said office of Vice-Chancellor appertaineth & that as fully amply and beneficially to all intents & purposes as any person or persons formerly holding or exercising the said office of Vice-Chauncellor held enjoyed or exercised, or ought to have held enjoyed or exercised the same. In witness whereof I have to these presents sett my hand and fixed my seall the one & thirtieth day of August in the yeare of our Lord God 1660 & in the twelfth year of the Rainn of our Soveraine Lord Charles the 2^{nd} by the Grace [&c.].--ORMONDE.”

[45] Taylor’s _History_, p. 43.

[46] Preface to the London edition of his University Sermon, 1661.

[47] _Cf._ the interesting article on this eminent man by Professor G. Stokes in the _Jour. R. S. of Antiq., Ireland, for 1890_, pp. 17, _seq._

[48] In the MS. preserved at Armagh, containing an account of Adam Loftus’ eloquence on the subject of Trinity College, the writer, who lived about the centenary of its foundation, says (p. 227)--“Of the old structure there remains no more than the steeple, which belonged to that said monastery [All Hallowes] which was lately restored and beautified under the Government of Thomas Seele, late Provost of this Colledge.” Seele began the enlargements of the College, which succeeded one another rapidly for the next century and a-half.

[49] Harris’ _Ware_. Loftus was made Archbishop of Armagh at the age of 28!

[50] In his MS. autobiography, preserved in his Library. For an interesting account of Archbishop Marsh, see _Christian Examiner_, vol. xi., p. 647. 1831. The ill education of the young scholars has again become a grave difficulty in Trinity College, since the establishment of the so-called system of Intermediate Education. The old hedge-school masters sent us better pupils.

[51] Printed in the _Christian Examiner_, vol. ii., p. 762, 2nd series (1833).

[52] Bishop Dopping, in his letter to the Hon. Robert Boyle (Boyle’s _Life and Correspondence_, vol. i.), gives an interesting account of these classes, at which he states Fellows and Students attended to the number of eighty, and that they, following the Provost’s example, made considerable progress in the Irish language.

[53] Dunton speaks of it in 1699 as about to be built. The present Royal Hospital at Kilmainham is the oldest secular building of any importance about Dublin. It was finished shortly before 1700, when it must have been quite unique.

[54] _e.g._, Mr. Dunbar Ingram.

[55] It may be read in Taylor’s History (pp. 55, _seq._) or in Dr. Stubbs’, who gives Archbishop King as the original authority. Mr. Heron tells us that one of these members was a Roman Catholic.

[56] “He promised that he would preserve them in their liberties and properties, and rather augment than diminish the privileges and immunities granted to them by his predecessors.”--Abp. King’s _State of Protestants_, sec. lxxix.

[57] This entry must have been made subsequently and separately.

[58] “Many of the chambers were turned into prisons for Protestants. The Garrison destroyed the doors, wainscots, closets, and floors, and damnified it in the building and furniture of private rooms, to at least the value of two thousand pounds.”--_King_, sec. lxxix.

[59] This entry requires further verification, for Huntingdon never resumed the office after his flight, and the new Provost was not yet appointed. On the piece of plate presented to the College in 1690 he calls himself _nuper Præpositus_, lately Provost.

[60] Stubbs, pp. 127-133.

[61] Moore, who retired to the Continent with James II., was important enough to be afterwards appointed Rector of the University of Paris.

[62] Wonderful to relate, the chalices which ran these and other terrible risks, and the flagons of the same date, figured on p. 44, escaped, and are still in constant use in the College Chapel. They will be more fully described in another chapter.

[63] Brereton says in 1635 (_Travels_, p. 144)--“The cittie of Dublin is extending his boundes and limits very farr, much additions of buildings are lately made, and some of these very fair, stately and complete buildings. Every commodity is grown very dear.”

[64] Stubbs, pp. 144, 145. The author does not explain what the supper Commencement fees were, nor does he state that some land was bought by the College to complete the Park.

[65] The proposal to recognise as students those who had matriculated, but lodged in the city of Dublin, is as old as Bedell’s time, who favours it. _Cf._ _College Calendar_ for 1833, Introd., p. xxvi.