Chap. 2.] ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 71 



KEY. FITZHERBERT ASTLEY CAVE-BROWNE-CAVE, M.A. — 1877. 



The present Vicar, who received, in March, 1877, a friendly call 

 from his parishioners, and who came from Padiham with a gi'eat repu- 

 tation, is a very different man to his predecessor. The Rev. Fitzherhert 

 Astley Cave-Browne-Cave, M.A., is as large and as fine a sjpecimen of 

 an English gentleman it is possible for the soil to grow. Handsome, 

 polished, genial, and couiteous, his very appearance gratified the 

 people of Longridge. Such a contrast he was to the late Vicar, whom 

 "Atticus" painted for us a little while ago. So Mr. Cave came to 

 Longridge amid the approving shouts of the Church-people ; and he 

 began his work well. 



Frank and outspoken, he told the people what his views were about 

 parish work, and at once proceeded to throw himself with characteristic 

 energy into the task of stirring up the somewhat stagnant waters of 

 Longridge Church and social life. He established a Parochial Council, 

 which soon proved a failure ; left off the absurd habit of changing his 

 surplice for the black gown before entering the pulpit, thereby pro- 

 voking only "a storm in a teapot;" instituted harvest thanksgiving 

 services and weekly communions ; organized a bazaar for meetingthe cost 

 of enlarging the Girls' School, which was accomplished in 1879, and in 

 various other ways brushed away the cobwebs which had been fast accimiu- 

 lating under the rule of his somewhat jejune predecessor. Lf we might 

 (with all due respect), venture to express an unprejudiced opinion, we 

 should say that Mr. Cave would have made an excellent captain of Life 

 Guards. He would have had his troop in first-rate order, a matter less 

 difficult for one of his qualities than the disciplining of a country 

 parish. His genial and open-hearted manner would have made him 

 better suited for such persons as would then have been his associates 

 than for a rustic congregation. But Mr. Cave's influence upon social 

 affairs in Longridge has been more marked, and, we venture to say, 

 win show much more permanency in the end than his influence in 

 religious matters. He instituted a Floral Society, which has just held 

 its eleventh annual show ; established a Church of England Mutual 

 Improvement Association, which in a year became a non-sectarian 

 debating society, and which did much good until its temporary defunc- 



