BED 



himfelf with fo much force and vivacity, as aflually to pro- 

 duce both repentance and amendment, and was a great caufc 

 of that decorum \\hich has for the moll part been obfervcd 

 by the modern writers of dramatic poetry. From Br:tlol he 

 went to a fmall living in Somcrfctihire, where he employed 

 himfelf in a work on fcripturc chronology, which, in confc- 

 quence of fir I. Newton's labour, he afterwards relinquilTicd 

 for a time, and was engaged to afiill in correding an Arabic 

 vcrl'ioH of tlie Pulter and New Tellament, for the benefit of 

 the poor Chrillinns in Afia. In 17 19, he communicated his 

 thoughts to Dr. Charlet, in regard to the foundation of a 

 Syriac profciTurfliip at Oxford. The letter which contained 

 them is a moll excellent produftion, and is printed at lrnG;th 

 in Mr. Ellis's Hiftory of Shorcditch, where he became chap- 

 lain to Artec's hofpital, in 1724. About 1730, he renewed 

 bis attack upon the ilagc, particularly directed againil a new 

 playhonfe in Goodman's fields, where Garrick made his firil 

 appearance. From this period, to the time of his death, we 

 know few particulars of confequonce ; but the 15th ot Sep- 

 teptember 1745, clofed a life that had been very ufelul. 

 Befides many fingle Icrmons, and his tn'.c^s upon tiie play- 

 houfe, his chief publications were, " The Temple of Mu- 

 fic;" 1706, 8vo. " The abule of Mulic ;" 1711, 8vo. 

 " Eflay on finging David's Plalms ;'' 1708. " Aiiimad- 

 verfions on Sir Ifaac Newton's Chronology ;" 1728, 8vo. 

 " Scripture Chronology ;" 1730, fol. " 'I'he Doftrine of 

 Jullification by Faith, in Nine Quellions and Aniwers ;" 

 174r, 8vo: and " Hora; Matiiematicse vacux ;" 1743, Svo. 



BtDFORD, in Ci-ogrophv, the county town of Bedlord- 

 fhirc in England, is feated on the banks of the river Oule, 

 nearly in the centre of the county, at the diHaneeof 51 miles 

 N.W. from I^ondon. It is a place of fome antiquity, and 

 was called by the Saxons Bcdan-ford, or Bedician Forda, 

 fignifying the fortrcfs on the ford. At the time of OfTa, that 

 powerful king of the Mercians, Bedford was probably of 

 fome note, as this monarch direAedhis corpfe tobe interred in 

 a fmall chapel here, which, being feated on the river Oufe, 

 was carried away by the floods during an inundation. In 

 the year 572, a pitched battle was fought here between 

 Cuthwolf the Saxon, and the Britons ; when the latter were 

 defeated, and obliged to dthver up feveral of their towns to 

 the haughty conqueror. Duriiig the Danilh wars, this town 

 fuffercd materially by the ravages of thefe plundering marau- 

 ders ; but in the year 911, they were fcvcrely beaten, and 

 driven from this neighbourhood. A (Irong Norman callle 

 ■was erefted here by Pagan de Beauchnmp, the third baron of 

 Bedford, who fortified it with a deep intrenchment and lofty 

 wall. " While it Hood," fays Camden, " there was no ftorm 

 of civil war which did not burll upon it." King Stephen 

 laid fiege to, and conquered this calUe ; and, according to 

 Camden, flaughtered the inhabitants ; but other hillorians 

 aflcrt that he granted them honourable terms. During the 

 contells between king John and his barons, it was feized by 

 the latter, but reconquered again by the forces under Fulco 

 de Brent, to whom it was given by the king as a reward for 

 his fervices. This rebellious villain occafioncd his own de- 

 Ilruftion with that of the callle, by oppofing Henry III. 

 who laid fiege to the fortrtfs, and after a coatell: of fixtv 

 days, made himfelf mailer of this " nurfery of fedition." 

 De Brent wa« fent to London and imprifoned, but his bro- 

 ther and twenty-four other knights were executed on the 

 fpot. (For an account of this fiege, fee Beauties of Eng- 

 land and Wales, vol. i. p. 6.) l"he enibankmints of the 

 caflle form a parallelogram ; fome of which may be eafily 

 traced ; but the walk are entirely rnfed to the ground. 



"l\\x. go'..irnment of the town i.> vcHcd in a mayor, recorder, 

 deputy -rtcorderjan indefinite number of aldermen, two bailiffs, 



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and thirteen common councilmen. The bailiffs are lords of 

 tiie manor, and have the right offifliing in Oufe for an extent 

 of nine miles each v.ay from Bedford. Henry 1 1 1, granted the 

 ioroHj/j to the burgcfi'es for 40I. yearly: Edward I. feized it 

 for the crown rents, wliich the burgefles had ncgletled to dif- 

 charge. The lad renewal of their charter was in the reign of 

 James II. when the mayor and aldermen were removed from 

 their refpcclive offices by a royal mandate, for not elefting 

 two burgcffes to ferve in parliament. The members were in 

 conlVqueuce chofen by his majelly's minillers. I'he right of 

 elcflion is now vdled i:i the burgeffes, freemen, r.nd inhabitant 

 houl'eholders not receiving aim?, amounting to nearly 1400. 



This town is feated in a ftrtilc tracl of land, called the 

 vile of Bedford, wluch accompanies the Oule, and produces 

 abundant crops of wheat, barley, turnips, &c. The land on 

 the north fide of the river is a flrong clay, that on the luuth 

 fide is imuch lighter, ytt vely produdlivc, and its natural 

 fcrtilitv is much increafcd by the overflowing waters of the 

 Oufe. Tliis river flows through, and divides tlie town, which 

 is cor.nefltd by a llrong old Hone bridge. On the centre of 

 tliib Hood the old town gaol, which was taken down about 

 thitty-three years fince. The river was made navigable to 

 Lynn in Norfolk, by aCl of parliament. Bedford contains five 

 dilliudl parilhes, aiid an equal number of churches, two of 

 which are on the fouth fide of the river, and tliree on the 

 north fide. Of thefe St. Paul's is the princi|)sl tor fize and 

 architeflure, having a handfome odlagonal Itone fpire. It 

 was collegiate btfore the conquell. Here are four meeting- 

 houfes, appropriated to different religious feds, befides one 

 for the Methodills, and another for.MoravIans. To the latter 

 is attached a dwcUing-houic for maiden ladies of this fedl, 

 called the fingle fillers' houfe. 



This town isdillinguinied by many charitable endowments. 

 The holpital of St. John is fuppoftd to have been founded in 

 9S0 by Robert Deparis, who was the firll mailer. It now 

 confills of a mailer who is reclor of St. John's, and ten poor 

 men. St. Leonard's hofpital was built and endowed towards 

 the end of the reign of Edward I. The hofpital of Grey Friars 

 was founded in the reign of the fucceeding monarch by the 

 lady Mabilia de Paterlhall, who was buried in thccemeterv'. 

 Mr. Thomas Chrilly repaired the old town-hall, founded an 

 hofpital for eight poor people, and endowed a charity fchool 

 for forty children. But the moll confiderable chaiity of this 

 town,and one whofe augmented revenues have been allonifh- 

 ingly great, wasbcqueathed hy Sir lF'^!'iamHarpiir,\v]icSc name 

 and benevolence it perpetuates. This gentleman was a na- 

 tive of Bedford, and made lord mayor of London in 156 1. 

 He pnrchafed for 180I. thirteen acres and one rood of land 

 lying in the parifliof St. Andrew, Hoiborn, London. This, 

 with his dwclling-houfe in Bedford, he gave to the corpo- 

 ration of that town, for the endowment of a fchool and for 

 apportioning young women of the town upon marriage. 

 The annual rent of the above land was only 4CI. at firil; in 

 166S it was leafed fi-r forty-one years at the annual rent of 

 99I. A reverfionary leale was granted for a further term of 

 fifty-one years at the increafed rent of 150I. A number of 

 flreets, rows, and courts, were then built on the leafed ground, 

 and the annual rent is now 4000I. which in three or four 

 years is expccled to increafe at leail another thoufand. In 

 confequenceof this almoll unparalleled augmentation of reve- 

 nue, the trullees have applied to parhamentfor two different 

 a(fls, to extend the objefts of the charity, and regulate the 

 apphcation of the receipts. The fchool endowed by it is 

 fituated near St. Paul's church, having over the door a ftatue 

 in white marble of the founder, and a Latin infcription be- 

 neath. Befides the above charities a hoiij'e 0/ Inditjlry has 

 lately been opened for the reception of all the poor of the 



five 



