queathed to the college by Mr. William Cartwright, a celebrated comedian and bookseller in London, have been treated with great contempt by Aubrey and succeeding writers; but Lysons, who enumerates such of the paintings as are most worthy of notice, asserts, that "some have much merit, and many are valuable as being original portraits of remarkable persons." By the will of Sir Francis Bourgeois, a painter of considerable eminence, who died in January 1811, this collection received a valuable accession; for he bequeathed to it the whole of his pictures, besides 10,000l. to keep them in due preservation, and 2,0001. for the purpose of repairing the gallery for their reception.+ At the south end of the gallery is the audit-room, adorned with a good fulllength picture of the founder; and adjoining is a small library, in which are most of the books bequeathed to the college by Mr. Cartwright. The east wing, which has been rebuilt, was finished in 1740, at an expense of above 3,6001. In the centre of the wing, on the first floor, is the school-room, and on each side, the chambers of the fellows. Beneath are the apartments of the poor brethren, and behind the college is a garden of considerable extent.

The chapel, though built for the use of the college only, now serves as a chapel of ease for this hamlet, where all religious rites, excepting marriage, are performed. Under the chancel is a vault, in which the founder, his wife, and mother, are interred; and which, by his direction, is exclusively appropriated as the burialplace of the masters, wardens, and fellows. For the other members of the institution, there is a cemetery situated about a quarter of a mile from the college, which is also used for the interment of the inhabitants of the hamlet.

In 1808, an Act of Parliament was passed for empowering the master,

Environs, I. 80.

+ This was not the whole extent of the benefaction of Sir Francis: he left legacies of 10001. each to the Principal and Chaplain of the College; and transferred to the Directors of this institution, as residuary legatees, all the rest of his property of every denomination.

master, warden, and fellows, to grant building leases of certain lands, and to apply the surplus and fines of the premiums received in aid of the sum of 56001. which they had accumulated as a building fund, either for the complete repair of the college, the west wing of which has long been in a very dilapidated state, or for rebuilding it on the present site, or any other that may be appointed by the visitor for the time being.

Knights Hill, near Dulwich, the seat of the late Lord Thurlow, was purchased by him of the Duke of St. Alban's. At that time there was only a farm-house on the estate, which he newfronted, building at the same time some additional apartments. His lordship afterwards took down the whole, and erected the present mansion in a plain and simple style, under the direction of the late Mr. Holland.

CLAPHAM is situated on the skirts of a common, containing about 200 acres, which has of late years been so much improved, chiefly by draining and the judicious planting of a considerable number of forest-trees, as to have the appearance of a park. It is surrounded by villas belonging to some of the most opulent merchants in the city of London, and among others, those of Samuel, Robert, and Henry Thornton, Samuel Smith, and John Dent, Esqrs. and members of Parliament.

The church at the north-east corner of the common is a new building, having been finished in 1776 at an expense of 10,0001. In the south aisle of the old church which was left standing, and which, with the adjoining cemetery, is exclusively appropriated to interments, are some splendid monuments for Sir Richard Atkins, Bart. who died in 1689, and his family; and Bartholomew Clerke, Dean of the Arches, and lord of the manor, who died in 1589. Here is also a marble tablet to the memory of Dr. Martin Lister, F. R. S. and physician to Queen Anne, who died February 2, 1711-12. He is well known to the learned world as a naturalist, especially by his book on shells, intituled Synopsis Conchylium, the drawings and engravings for which were executed by himself and his daughters.

MERTON is remarkable for a convent of Augustine canons, founded in 1115 by Gilbert Norman, sheriff of Surrey. The prior of this convent had a seat in Parliament as a mitred abbot; and through the munificence of the founder, and subsequent benefactors, it enjoyed, at the Dissolution, a yearly revenue of 9571. 19s. 4 d.

It was at this place, according to Lambard, that the treaty of peace was concluded in 1217 between the Earl of Pembroke, regent of the kingdom, on the part of Henry III. and Louis, the Dauphin; but Matthew Paris, and other writers, place this transaction at a little island in the Thames near Staines. When Hubert de Burgh, some time Chief Justice of England, being required, 16 Henry III. to give an account of his conduct and administration, found his ruin resolved upon, and despaired of vindicating himself to his judges, most of whom were his enemies, he took sanctuary in this house. The king ordered him to come before the court, and abide the law; but he refused to quit his asylum. Henry being highly incensed, sent to the Lord Mayor of London, ordering him to summon all the citizens capable of bearing arms, and proceed to Merton to take Burgh dead or alive. The citizens, with whom he was very unpopular, has tened towards Merton, in number about 20,000, and the Chief Justice flying to the high altar, waited the event. In the mean time the king, through the intercession of the Earl of Chester and Bishop of Chichester, was induced to alter his purpose; the citizens were recalled, and Burgh remained in his retreat till the Archbishop of Dublin procured his enlargement.

In 20 Henry III, 1235-6, a Parliament was held at this place, when those statutes were enacted which are still known by the name of the Statutes of Merton. At this meeting also it was that the barons so resolutely withstood the insidious overtures of the prelates for the introduction of the imperial and canon laws; their spirited reply to which will ever be remembered to their honor: Nolumus Leges Angliæ mutare.

This priory was situated on the bank of the little river Wan

dle,

105

ale, and, in its ancient state, occupied no less than sixty acres of ground. How far the zeal of the Commissioners was exercised in its demolition at the time of its surrender, or what waste may have been committed by its successive proprietors, cannot be determined. It was probably reduced to its present state, in which, however, considerable remains of the outer walls are standing, by the caution of Parliament in the civil wars under Charles I. when it was judged of importance enough to be referred to a Committee in 1648, with directions for putting it into such a condition that no use might be made of it to the endangering of the peace of the kingdom.* In 1680 Merton priory was advertised to be lett,† and was described as containing several large rooms, and a very fine chapel. Vertue, who visited this place about 1730, mentions this chapel as being then entire, and says, that it resembled the Saxon buildings. At present no other vestige of the edifice is left than the east window of the chapel of crumbling stone, which seems, from the style of its architecture, to have been built in the fifteenth century.§ The site of this religious establishment is now a scene of active industry, being occupied by three manufactories for printing calicoes, and a copper-mill, which afford employment to a great number of hands.

The parochial church, dedicated to St. Mary, has the appearance of great antiquity. From a manuscript in the Herald's College, it appears to have been built by Gilbert Norman, who, after the grant of the manor by King Henry I. for the purpose, erected a church here, and is said to have adorned it with pictures and images. Lysons observes, that from the style of the architecture of the present church, there is little doubt of its being the original structure, and having undergone little alteration.

Journals of the House of Commons, V. 623.

+ Domestic Intelligencer, March 5, 1680.

In

+ Vertue's MSS. in the collection of the Earl of Orford at Strawberry-hill. § An engraving of it is given in Malcolm's Views for illustrating Lysons' Environs.

In the window of the chancel are some remains of painted glass; and against the north wall of the church hangs a large picture of Christ bearing his cross. Though now much damaged, it appears to have been a good painting, and either the work of Luca Jordano, or a copy from that master.

Merton Place, a modern mansion in this parish, was the favorite residence of the late Lord Nelson, who left it, with seventy acres of the grounds, to Lady Hamilton. It is now by purchase the property of Asher Goldsmid, Esq.

WALTER DE MERTON was a native of this parish, and educated in the convent here: he was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal in 1258; and 1261 Lord Chancellor of England, which office he held above three years. From a regard to the place in which he had received his birth, and the house where he had imbibed the first rudiments of instruction, he conceived a design of endowing it with considerable revenues for the perpetual support of scholastic divines. With this view he obtained of the Earl of Gloucester, as lord of the fee, his licence, dated 7th of May, 1262, to give and assign the neighboring manor of Maldon to the priory of Merton, or any other religious establishment for that purpose. Upon farther consideration, however, he founded, in 1264, a separate college at Maldon, intended as a seminary for the larger institution at Oxford, which is still known by his name. But, in 1270, both these societies were united by him into that at Oxford, which he completed in 1274. In the same year also having executed the office of chancellor a third time, he was consecrated Bishop of Rochester. He died 27th October, 1277, and was buried in his own cathedral, under a marble tomb, which was taken down in 1598 by Sir Henry Savile, Warden, and the Fellows of Merton College, who erected an elegant monument in its stead.*

At MORDON is Mordon Park, the property and residence of George Ridge, Esq. The house, a handsome quadrangular building, on a rising ground near the church, was originally

See Beauties, VII. 649.

erected