I July 8. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M W 
JULY 8—14, 1852. 
Weather near London in 1851. 
Day of 
Year. 
! D I D 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. Rain in In. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
It. & s. 
Age. 
bef. Sun. 
8 Th 
I 9 9 
io's 
II !Sun 
12 M 
13 To 
14 W 
Round-leaved Campanula flowers. 
Cambridge Term ends. 
Oxford Term ends. 
5 Sunday after Trinity. 
Wood Parsnip flowers. 
Hemlock flowers. 
Scarlet Martagon flowers. 
29-798 — 29.714 
29 . 811 — 29.696 
29.864 — 29.677 
30.140 — 30.089 
30.036—29.919 
29.866 — 29.571 
29.577 — 29.462 
71—50 
67—43 
69— 38 
70— 56 
75—48 
73—51 
71— 50 
N.W. 
S.W. 
N.W. 
W. 
w. 
S.W. 
w. 
08 
16 
24 
20 
55 a. 3 
56 
57 
58 
59 
IV 
1 
15 a. 8 
14 
13 
12 
12 
11 
10 
11 49 
morn. 
0 0 
0 23 
0 44 
1 7 
1 37 
21 
C 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
4 44 
5 53 
5 1 
5 9 
5 17 
5 24 
5 31 
190 
191 
192 
193 
194 
195 
196 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera- 
tures of these days are 7< ; 8 and 51.5° respectively. The greatest heat, 90°, occurred on the 12th in 1847 ; and the lowest cold, 39°, on the 8th 
in 1850. During the period 114 days ivere fine, and on 61 rain fell. 
Two score of years ago, if any one liad told us we should 
ever have anything pleasant to write about the man who 
devised “ Mavor’s Spelling Book,” we should have replied, 
in boyish phrase, that “ that would be to-niorrow-come- 
never,” for we abhorred those columns of words of five 
syllables far too deeply ever to conceive that we should even 
respect the fellow who got “ such a heap of hard words 
together.” Time, however,—“ what will not time subdue!”— 
has softened the remembrance of the horrors of “ spelling 
mornings,” and we can even say, “ Peace to his ashes ” 
“ Who, brandishing the rod, did oft begin 
To loose the brogues.” 
We do not wonder, therefore, that we can write calmly, 
and even approvingly of the author of that spelling book, 
Dk. William Mayor, and are not surprised to find, that, 
instead of being fond of puzzling little boys, and of having 
them Hayed alive like an ogre, he had a heart of more 
than usual kindness, and loved to promote the improvement 
of the soil quite as much as the improvement of bad 
spellers. 
This industrious author, and truly amiable man, says his 
biographer, was born on the 1st of August, 1708, in the 
parish of New Deer, Aberdeenshire. He left his native 
country at an early age, and when no more than seventeen, 
officiated as an assistant in an academy at Burford, in 
Oxfordshire. He subsequently established himself in a 
school at Woodstock, and having been employed to instruct 
in writing the junior branches of the Marlborough family, 
at Blenheim, lie obtained so much favour as to procure a 
title for holy orders in 1781. 
In 1789, the Duke of Marlborough gave him the vicarage 
of Hurley, in Berkshire, which he retained until his death; 
and in the same year the degree of Doctor of Laws was 
conferred upon him by the University of Aberdeen. Sub¬ 
sequently he was presented, by the same patron, to the 
rectory of Stonesfield, in Oxfordshire, which he resigned in 
1810, and in exchange obtained the rectory of Bladon-with- 
Woodstock. 
As a magistrate, his conduct was most exemplary, and 
most useful; and his brother townsmen evinced their good¬ 
will and confidence by ten times electing him to the office 
of Mayor. By his many useful publications, written during 
a literary life of fifty-six years, Dr. Mavor evinced his deep 
regard for the promotion of useful knowledge, and the 
temporal and eternal welfare of his fellow-creatures. But 
we must not find space for even the titles of more than of 
those which gave him a claim to a notice in these pages. 
These were— A Dictionary of Natural History, under the 
name of Martyn, 1784, 2 vols., folio. Elements of Natural 
History, for the use of schools, 1799. The Lady and Gen¬ 
tleman’s Botanical Pocket-hook, 1800. A General Viexv of 
the Ayriculture of Berkshire, 1809; and a new edition of 
Tusser’s Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, 1812. 
Many of his works, particularly his Spelling-hook, and 
others formed for the purpose of education, have, from time 
to time of their publication, been exceedingly popular and 
successful. But one of the most feeling of his publications 
was a selection from his former writings, with general moral 
reflections, derived from his long experience of the human 
character, which appeared in 1829, under the title of Mis¬ 
cellanies ill Prose and Verse, ire. 
On taking this review of his literary labours, he remarked, 
that “ he looked to the tenor and the tendency of his 
numerous publications, both with and without a name; and, 
as far as principle and intentions are concerned, he con¬ 
templated what he had done without a fear, and without a 
blush," adding that he was sustained by reflecting, that “ the 
consciousness of meaning well, however imperfect his per¬ 
formances, and that he had never, by a single sentiment, 
pandered to vice, or injured the oause of virtue, shed a gleam 
of sunshine on the closing scenes of life.” 
With regard to his domestic relations we find these re¬ 
flections :—“ Domestic society is the prime charm of life. 
If our friends be comfortable, we may despise the male¬ 
volence or the ingratitude of the world, and bear with for¬ 
titude the injuries of fortune. I have known, though late, 
what it is to be happy at home, and ’till then I never knew 
bliss but by name! ” 
The tablet to Dr. Mavor’s memory is fixed outside the 
wall, at the west end of the church; the inscription is as 
follows:— 
Sacred to the memory of 
the Revd. William Mavor , L.L.D., 
the first great promoter 
of the catechetical method of instruction 
in all its branches 
of human as well as divine knowledge, 
who, though dead, yet speaketli 
for the improvement of youth and infancy, 
in the volumes 
which he benevolently and judiciously adapted 
to the growing powers of the mmd. 
He was rector of Bladon with Woodstock, 
and vicar of Hurley, Berks, 
a magistrate for the county of Oxford, 
and ten times Mayor of this Borough. 
Beloved and esteemed by relatives and friends, 
and respected by those 
whom as a minister and a magistrate 
he had so long and faithfully served. 
He departed this life 
Dec. 29, 1837, in the 80th year of his age. 
The feeling soul may linger here, 
Soft pity’s bosom heave a sigh ; 
But spare my dust, and come not near 
Cold apathy ! with tearless eye. W. M. 
The Doctor was a triton amongst the minnows, ancl ex¬ 
ceeded the little corporators of Woodstock as much in mind 
as lie did in stature. ’They could never subdue him. 
The rectory-house there comes as a gift from a late- 
Bishop of Oxford (Bishop Fell), and is left in trust with 
the corporation of Woodstock, for the rector of Bladon, 
and when it is the pleasure of the latter not to reside in it, 
the corporation have the power to let it, and distribute the 
proceeds amongst the poor. Ununited with the mother 
church of Bladon, and unendowed, is the chapel (mis-named 
church) of Woodstock, which, with the Grammar School 
attached, belongs to the corporation, and wherein, in reality, 
the rector of Bladon is not compelled to do any duty 
whatever; he does so from custom, arising from the cir¬ 
cumstance of his living in this house, which is situated 
in the most populous part of his parish; a modicum of the 
duty, also, at the mother church, on consideration of his 
officiating in the chapel being dispensed with (at least this 
was the case previous to the present rector’s time). The 
corporation, however, as a matter of wise policy, buoy them¬ 
selves up with the threat, that the rector of Bladon is 
bound to perform service in their chapel; and thus an occa¬ 
sional “ palaver,” as the Indians term it, sounds about the 
ears of the incumbent, and as often results in no more than 
a little sparring. Church-rates always afford a contentional 
bone. The residence is the rectory-house, to all intents and 
No. CX.CVII., Vol. VIII. 
