1824.] late Rev. J. J. Conybeare. 163 



gate; and the grandson of Dr. John Conybeare, Dean of Christ 

 Church, Oxford, and afterwards Bishop of Bristol. He was 

 educated at Westminster School, and in the year 1793, having, 

 throughout the examination which precedes such admission, 

 distinguished himself in a most eminent manner, so as to have 

 been constantly at the head of those who stood out, was 

 admitted, at the head of his election, a scholar of the College. 

 The reputation for abilities and scholarship which he thus esta- 

 blished, had been anticipated, in consequence of the distinguished 

 talent shown in his school exercises ; and it was afterwards 

 supported, whilst he continued at Westminster, in such a man- 

 ner, as to vindicate to him the character of possessing greater 

 abilities, and of being a better scholar, than any boy then in the 

 school. Early in 1797 he was elected to a studentship at Christ 

 Church, Oxford; and he maintained in that University a reputa- 

 tion as distinguished as that of his earlier years. Besides 

 College prizes which he obtained, taking always the first place, 

 he gained, we believe in 1799, the University Under-graduate's 

 prize, for a Latin poem, the subject of which was " Religio 

 Brahma? ; " and which was characterized, as his verses always 

 were, by a fine poetic taste, and a peculiar facility of expression, 

 and harmony of numbers. 



When the Rev. Dr. Carey, now Lord Bishop of Exeter, went 

 from Christ Church, as Head Master of Westminster School, in 

 1803, Mr. Conybeare undertook, temporarily, the office of an 

 usher at that seminary : this, however, was much below his 

 talents, and he returned, in a short time, to Christ Church ; but 

 not until his usual kindness had made him generally beloved by 

 the boys of the form over which he was placed. About this 

 time he had a Laboratory, " and busied himself much with 

 chemical experiments ;" thus, perhaps, laying the foundation 

 for that interest in scientific subjects, which subsequently led 

 him, as a relaxation, by change of intellectual employment, to 

 those few researches in geology, chemistry, and the history of 

 science, the results of which, for the most part, are recorded in 

 the Annals : and the character of these is such, that did we not 

 know him to have been otherwise employed in promoting objects 

 of equal utility, we might have wished that his scientific 

 researches had been greatly extended. But we shall return to 

 this subject in the sequel. 



In 1804 or 1805, that great scholar and distinguished prelate 

 the late Archbishop Markham, having accepted the resignation 

 by Dr. W. Conybeare, of a stall which he held in York Cathedral, 

 presented his son to it. About the year 1807, Mr. C. was chosen 

 Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the university of Oxford ; and in 

 L808 or 1809, he held the perpetual Curacy of Cowley, near 

 Oxford, as an appendage to his Studentship. 



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