244] A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



Thus Dr. Newton gradually and steadily advanced in the esti- 

 mation of all who knew him; equally respected as a zealous and 

 eloquent pastor, a man of learning, and an ornament to the Pro- 

 testant Church. In 1750, he was appointed Chaplain to the King, 

 Prebendary of Westminster, and Precentor of York. His wife 

 died in 1754; and in September 1761, he married the widow of 

 the Rev. Mr. Hand. He had been elevated to the Deanery of 

 Salisbury; and in 1761, he received a still higher proof of his 

 Sovereign's esteem by being appointed Bishop of Bristol. In 1764, 

 he was offered the Primacy of Ireland, which he modestly refused, 

 being content with the high clerical honours already conferred on 

 him. 



Bishop Newton continued in the conscientious discharge of his 

 important duties till the year 1769, when his health declined, and 

 during the last thirteen years of his life he was a valetudinarian, 

 and bore his indisposition with pious fortitude. On the 14th of 

 February 1782, after a long and well-spent life, this virtuous pre- 

 late expired without a sigh or the least emotion. 



Bishop Newton was the author of several works, the principal of 

 which, entitled " Dissertations on the Prophecies," is held in 

 high estimation for its orthodoxy. 



THOMAS ASTLE. 



THOMAS, the son of Daniel Astle, keeper of Needwood-forest, 

 was born at Yoxall in the year 1734, and having received a good 

 education, was bound apprentice to an attorney in his native town. 

 At the expiration of his apprenticeship, his father wished him to 

 settle at Yoxall, and practise as an attorney, but young Astle, 

 who had, in consequence of his being employed in decyphering 

 ancient records, acquired a taste for antiquities, went to London 

 in order to improve in his favourite study. 



In 1763, he was so fortunate as to obtain the patronage of Mr. 

 Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer ; and under the auspices of that celebrated statesman he 

 was employed as an assistant to Sir Joseph Ayliffe and Dr. Duca- 

 rel, in the regulation of the Public Records at Westminster. He 

 was afterwards patronized by Lord Townshend, and became ac- 

 quainted with the Rev. Philip Morant, author of the History of 

 Essex, a gentleman of considerable property in that county. In 



