worthy compeer of the Country Parson of Chaucer, etc. In the seventh
book of _The Excursion_, an abstract of his character is given,
beginning--
A Priest abides before whose life such doubts
Fall to the ground;--
and some account of his life,[GS] for it is worthy of being recorded,
will not be out of place here.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote GS: 1827. An abstract of his character is given in the
author's poem of _The Excursion_; and some account of his life.--W. W.
1820.]
MEMOIR OF THE REV. ROBERT WALKER
In the year 1709, Robert Walker was born at Under-crag, in Seathwaite;
he was the youngest of twelve children. His eldest brother, who
inherited the small family estate, died at Under-crag, aged ninety-four,
being twenty-four years older than the subject of this Memoir, who was
born of the same mother. Robert was a sickly infant; and, through his
boyhood and youth continuing to be of delicate frame and tender health,
it was deemed best, according to the country phrase, to _breed him a
scholar_; for it was not likely that he would be able to earn a
livelihood by bodily labour. At that period few of these dales were
furnished with school-houses; the children being taught to read and
write in the chapel; and in the same consecrated building, where he
officiated for so many years both as preacher and schoolmaster, he
himself received the rudiments of his education. In his youth he became
schoolmaster at Loweswater; not being called upon, probably, in that
situation, to teach more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. But, by
the assistance of a "Gentleman" in the neighbourhood, he acquired, at
leisure hours, a knowledge of the classics, and became qualified for
taking holy orders. Upon his ordination, he had the offer of two
curacies: the one, Torver, in the vale of Coniston,--the other,
Seathwaite, in his native vale. The value of each was the same, _viz._
five pounds _per annum_: but the cure of Seathwaite having a cottage
attached to it, as he wished to marry, he chose it in preference. The
young person on whom his affections were fixed, though in the condition
of a domestic servant, had given promise, by her serious and modest
deportment, and by her virtuous dispositions, that she was worthy to
become the helpmate of a man entering upon a plan of life such as he had
marked out for himself. By her frugality she had stored up a small sum
of money, with which they began housekeeping. In 1735 or 1736, he
entered upon his curacy; and nineteen years afterwards, his situation is
thus described, in some letters to be found in the Annual Register for
1760, from which the following is extracted:
To Mr. ----.
"CONISTON, _July_ 26, 1754.
"SIR,
"I was the other day upon a party of pleasure, about five or six
miles from this place, where I met with a very striking object, and
of a nature not very common. Going into a clergyman's house (of
whom I had frequently heard), I found him sitting at the head of a
long square table, such as is commonly used in this country by the
lower class of people, dressed in a coarse blue frock, trimmed with
black horn buttons; a checked shirt, a leathern strap about his
neck for a stock, a coarse apron, and a pair of great wooden-soled
shoes plated with iron to preserve them (what we call clogs in
these parts), with a child upon his knee, eating his breakfast; his
wife, and the remainder of his children, were some of them employed
in waiting upon each other, the rest in teazing and spinning wool,
at which trade he is a great proficient; and moreover, when it is
made ready for sale, will lay it, by sixteen or thirty-two pounds'
weight, upon his back, and on foot, seven or eight miles, will
carry it to the market, even in the depth of winter. I was not much
surprised at all this, as you may possibly be, having heard a great
deal of it related before. But I must confess myself astonished
with the alacrity and the good humour that appeared both in the
clergyman and his wife, and more so at the sense and ingenuity of
the clergyman himself." ...
Then follows a letter from another person, dated 1755, from which an
extract shall be given.
"By his frugality and good management, he keeps the wolf from the
door, as we say; and if he advances a little in the world, it is
owing more to his own care, than to anything else he has to rely
upon. I don't find his inclination is running after further
preferment. He is settled among the people, that are happy among
themselves; and lives in the greatest unanimity and friendship with
them; and, I believe, the minister and people are exceedingly
satisfied with each other; and indeed how should they be
dissatisfied when they have a person of so much worth and probity
for their pastor? A man who, for his candour and meekness, his
sober, chaste, and virtuous conversation, his soundness in
principle and practice, is an ornament to his profession, and an
honour to the country he is in; and bear with me if I say, the
plainness of his dress, the sanctity of his manners, the simplicity
of his doctrine, and the vehemence of his expression, have a sort
of resemblance to the pure practice of primitive Christianity."
We will now give his own account of himself, to be found in the same
place.
From the Rev. ROBERT WALKER.
"SIR,--Yours of the 26th instant was communicated to me by Mr.
C----, and I should have returned an immediate answer, but the hand
of Providence, then laying[GT] heavy upon an amiable pledge of
conjugal endearment, hath since taken from me a promising girl,
which the disconsolate mother too pensively laments the loss of;
though we have yet eight living, all healthful, hopeful children,
whose names and ages are as follows:--Zaccheus, aged almost
eighteen years; Elizabeth, sixteen years and ten months; Mary,
fifteen; Moses, thirteen years and three months; Sarah, ten years
and three months; Mabel, eight years and three months; William
Tyson, three years and eight months; and Anne Esther, one year and
three months; besides Anne, who died two years and six months ago,
and was then aged between nine and ten; and Eleanor, who died the
23d inst., January, aged six years and ten months. Zaccheus, the
eldest child, is now learning the trade of a tanner, and has two
years and a half of his apprenticeship to serve. The annual income
of my chapel at present, as near as I can compute it, may amount to
about £17, of which is paid in cash, viz., £5 from the bounty
of Queen Anne, and £5 from W. P., Esq., of P----, out of the
annual rents, he being lord of the manor, and £3 from the several
inhabitants of L----, settled upon the tenements as a rent-charge;
the house and gardens I value at £4 yearly, and not worth more;
and I believe the surplice fees and voluntary contributions, one
year with another, may be worth £3; but as the inhabitants are
few in number, and the fees very low, this last-mentioned sum
consists merely in freewill offerings.
"I am situated greatly to my satisfaction with regard to the
conduct and behaviour of my auditory, who not only live in the
happy ignorance of the follies and vices of the age, but in mutual
peace and goodwill with one another, and are seemingly (I hope
really too) sincere Christians, and sound members of the
Established Church, not one dissenter of any denomination being
amongst them all. I got to the value of £40 for my wife's
fortune, but had no real estate of my own, being the youngest son
of twelve children, born of obscure parents; and, though my income
has been but small, and my family large, yet, by a providential
blessing upon my own diligent endeavours, the kindness of friends,
and a cheap country to live in, we have always had the necessaries
of life. By what I have written (which is a true and exact account
to the best of my knowledge,) I hope you will not think your favour
to me, out of the late worthy Dr. Stratford's effects, quite
misbestowed, for which I must ever gratefully own myself, Sir, your
much obliged and most obedient humble Servant,
"R. W., Curate of S----,
"To Mr. C., of Lancaster."
About the time when this letter was written, the Bishop of Chester
recommended the scheme of joining the curacy of Ulpha to the contiguous
one of Seathwaite, and the nomination was offered to Mr. Walker; but an
unexpected difficulty arising, Mr. W., in a letter to the Bishop, (a
copy of which, in his own beautiful handwriting, now lies before me,)
thus expresses himself. "If he," meaning the person in whom the
difficulty originated, "had suggested any such objection before, I
should utterly have declined any attempt to the curacy of Ulpha: indeed,
I was always apprehensive it might be disagreeable to my auditory at
Seathwaite, as they have been always accustomed to double duty, and the
inhabitants of Ulpha despair of being able to support a schoolmaster who
is not curate there also; which suppressed all thoughts in me of serving
them both." And in a second letter to the Bishop he writes:--
"MY LORD,--I have the favour of yours of the 1st instant, and am
exceedingly obliged on account of the Ulpha affair: if that curacy
should lapse into your Lordship's hands, I would beg leave rather
to decline than embrace it; for the chapels of Seathwaite and
Ulpha, annexed together, would be apt to cause a general discontent
among the inhabitants of both places; by either thinking
themselves slighted, being only served alternately, or neglected in
the duty, or attributing it to covetousness in me; all which
occasions of murmuring I would willingly avoid." And in concluding
his former letter, he expresses a similar sentiment upon the same
occasion, "desiring, if it be possible, however, as much as in me
lieth, to live peaceably with all men."
The year following, the curacy of Seathwaite was again augmented; and,
to effect this augmentation, fifty pounds had been advanced by himself;
and, in 1760, lands were purchased with eight hundred pounds. Scanty as
was his income, the frequent offer of much better benefices could not
tempt Mr. W. to quit a situation where he had been so long happy, with a
consciousness of being useful. Among his papers I find the following
copy of a letter, dated 1775, twenty years after his refusal of the
curacy of Ulpha, which will show what exertions had been made for one of
his sons.
"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE,--Our remote situation here makes it
difficult to get the necessary information for transacting business
regularly; such is the reason of my giving your Grace the present
trouble.
"The bearer (my son) is desirous of offering himself candidate for
deacon's orders at your Grace's ensuing ordination; the first, on
the 25th instant, so that his papers could not be transmitted in
due time. As he is now fully at age, and I have afforded him
education to the utmost of my ability, it would give me great
satisfaction (if your Grace would take him, and find him qualified)
to have him ordained. His constitution has been tender for some
years; he entered the college of Dublin, but his health would not
permit him to continue there, or I would have supported him much
longer. He has been with me at home above a year, in which time he
has gained great strength of body, sufficient, I hope, to enable
him for performing the function. Divine Providence, assisted by
liberal benefactors, has blest my endeavours, from a small income,
to rear a numerous family; and as my time of life renders me now
unfit for much future expectancy from this world, I should be glad
to see my son settled in a promising way to acquire an honest
livelihood for himself. His behaviour, so far in life, has been
irreproachable; and I hope he will not degenerate, in principles or
practice, from the precepts and pattern of an indulgent parent.
Your Grace's favourable reception of this, from a distant corner
of the diocese, and an obscure hand, will excite filial gratitude,
and a due use shall be made of the obligation vouchsafed thereby to
Your Grace's very dutiful and most obedient Son and Servant,
ROBERT WALKER."
The same man, who was thus liberal in the education of his numerous
family, was even munificent in his hospitality as a parish priest.
Every Sunday, were served, upon the long table, at which he has
been described sitting with a child upon his knee, messes of broth,
for the refreshment of those of his congregation who came from a
distance, and usually took their seats as parts of his own
household. It seems scarcely possible that this custom could have
commenced before the augmentation of his cure; and what would to
many have been a high price of self-denial, was paid, by the pastor
and his family, for this gratification; as the treat could only be
provided by dressing at one time the whole, perhaps, of their
weekly allowance of fresh animal food; consequently, for a
succession of days, the table was covered with cold victuals only.
His generosity in old age may be still further illustrated by a
little circumstance relating to an orphan grandson, then ten years
of age, which I find in a copy of a letter to one of his sons; he
requests that half-a-guinea may be left for "little Robert's
pocket-money," who was then at school: intrusting it to the care of
a lady, who, as he says, "may sometimes frustrate his squandering
it away foolishly," and promising to send him an equal allowance
annually for the same purpose. The conclusion of the same letter is
so characteristic, that I cannot forbear to transcribe it. "We,"
meaning his wife and himself, "are in our wonted state of health,
allowing for the hasty strides of old age knocking daily at our
door, and threateningly telling us, we are not only mortal, but
must expect ere long to take our leave of our ancient cottage, and
lie down in our last dormitory. Pray pardon my neglect to answer
yours; let us hear sooner from you, to augment the mirth of the
Christmas holidays. Wishing you all the pleasures of the
approaching season, I am, dear Son, with lasting sincerity, yours
affectionately,
"ROBERT WALKER."
He loved old customs and usages, and in some instances stuck to them to
his own loss; for, having had a sum of money lodged in the hands of a
neighbouring tradesman, when long course of time had raised the rate of
interest, and more was offered, he refused to accept it; an act not
difficult to one, who, while he was drawing seventeen pounds a year from
his curacy, declined, as we have seen, to add the profits of another
small benefice to his own, lest he should be suspected of cupidity. From
this vice he was utterly free; he made no charge for teaching school;
such as could afford to pay, gave him what they pleased. When very
young, having kept a diary of his expenses, however trifling, the large
amount, at the end of the year, surprised him; and from that time the
rule of his life was to be economical, not avaricious. At his decease he
left behind him no less a sum than _£_2000; and such a sense of his
various excellencies was prevalent in the country, that the epithet of
WONDERFUL is to this day attached to his name.
There is in the above sketch something so extraordinary as to require
further _explanatory_ details.--And to begin with his industry; eight
hours in each day, during five days in the week, and half of Saturday,
except when the labours of husbandry were urgent, he was occupied in
teaching. His seat was within the rails of the altar; the
communion-table was his desk; and, like Shenstone's schoolmistress, the
master employed himself at the spinning-wheel, while the children were
repeating their lessons by his side. Every evening, after school hours,
if not more profitably engaged, he continued the same kind of labour,
exchanging, for the benefit of exercise, the small wheel, at which he
had sate, for the large one on which wool is spun, the spinner stepping
to and fro. Thus, was the wheel constantly in readiness to prevent the
waste of a moment's time. Nor was his industry with the pen, when
occasion called for it, less eager. Intrusted with extensive management
of public and private affairs, he acted, in his rustic neighbourhood, as
scrivener, writing out petitions, deeds of conveyance, wills, covenants,
etc., with pecuniary gain to himself, and to the great benefit of his
employers. These labours (at all times considerable) at one period of
the year, viz., between Christmas and Candlemas, when money transactions
are settled in this country, were often so intense, that he passed great
part of the night, and sometimes whole nights, at his desk. His garden
also was tilled by his own hand; he had a right of pasturage upon the
mountains for a few sheep and a couple of cows, which required his
attendance; with this pastoral occupation, he joined the labours of
husbandry upon a small scale, renting two or three acres in addition to
his own less than one acre of glebe; and the humblest drudgery which the
cultivation of these fields required was performed by himself.
He also assisted his neighbours in haymaking and shearing their flocks,
and in the performance of this latter service he was eminently
dexterous. They, in their turn, complimented him with the present of a
haycock, or a fleece; less as a recompense for this particular service
than as a general acknowledgment. The Sabbath was in a strict sense kept
holy; the Sunday evenings being devoted to reading the Scripture and
family prayer. The principal festivals appointed by the Church were also
duly observed; but through every other day in the week, through every
week in the year he was incessantly occupied in work of hand or mind;
not allowing a moment for recreation, except upon a Saturday afternoon,
when he indulged himself with a Newspaper, or sometimes with a Magazine.
The frugality and temperance established in his house, were as admirable
as the industry. Nothing to which the name of luxury could be given was
there known; in the latter part of his life, indeed, when tea had been
brought into almost general use, it was provided for visitors, and for
such of his own family as returned occasionally to his roof, and had
been accustomed to this refreshment elsewhere; but neither he nor his
wife ever partook of it. The raiment worn by his family was comely and
decent, but as simple as their diet; the home-spun materials were made
up into apparel by their own hands. At the time of the decease of this
thrifty pair, their cottage contained a large store of webs of woollen
and linen cloth, woven from thread of their own spinning. And it is
remarkable that the pew in the chapel in which the family used to sit,
remains neatly lined with woollen cloth spun by the pastor's own hands.
It is the only pew in the chapel so distinguished; and I know of no
other instance of his conformity to the delicate accommodations of
modern times. The fuel of the house, like that of their neighbours,
consisted of peat, procured from the mosses by their own labour. The
lights by which, in the winter evenings, their work was performed, were
of their own manufacture, such as still continue to be used in these
cottages; they are made of the pith of rushes dipped in any unctuous
substance that the house affords. _White_ candles, as tallow candles are
here called, were reserved to honour the Christmas festivals, and were
perhaps produced upon no other occasions. Once a month, during the
proper season, a sheep was drawn from their small mountain flock, and
killed for the use of the family; and a cow, towards the close of the
year, was salted and dried for winter provision: the hide was tanned to
furnish them with shoes.--By these various resources, this venerable
clergyman reared a numerous family, not only preserving them, as he
affectingly says, "from wanting the necessaries of life"; but affording
them an unstinted education, and the means of raising themselves in
society. In this they were eminently assisted by the effects of their
father's example, his precepts, and injunctions: he was aware that
truth-speaking, as a moral virtue, is best secured by inculcating
attention to accuracy of report even on trivial occasions; and so rigid
were the rules of honesty by which he endeavoured to bring up his
family, that if one of them had chanced to find in the lanes or fields
anything of the least use or value without being able to ascertain to
whom it belonged, he always insisted upon the child's carrying it back
to the place from which it had been brought.[GU]
No one it might be thought could, as has been described, convert his
body into a machine, as it were, of industry for the humblest uses, and
keep his thoughts so frequently bent upon secular concerns, without
grievous injury to the more precious parts of his nature. How could the
powers of intellect thrive, or its graces be displayed, in the midst of
circumstances apparently so unfavourable, and where, to the direct
cultivation of the mind, so small a portion of time was allotted? But,
in this extraordinary man, things in their nature adverse were
reconciled. His conversation was remarkable, not only for being chaste
and pure, but for the degree in which it was fervent and eloquent; his
written style was correct, simple, and animated. Nor did his
_affections_ suffer more than his intellect; he was tenderly alive to
all the duties of his pastoral office: the poor and needy "he never sent
empty away," the stranger was fed and refreshed in passing that
unfrequented vale,--the sick were visited; and the feelings of humanity
found further exercise among the distresses and embarrassments in the
worldly estate of his neighbours, with which his talents for business
made him acquainted; and the disinterestedness, impartiality, and
uprightness which he maintained in the management of all affairs
confided to him, were virtues seldom separated in his own conscience
from religious obligation. Nor could such conduct fail to remind those
who witnessed it of a spirit nobler than law or custom: they felt
convictions which, but for such intercourse, could not have been
afforded, that, as in the practice of their pastor, there was no guile,
so in his faith there was nothing hollow; and we are warranted in
believing, that upon these occasions, selfishness, obstinacy, and
discord would often give way before the breathings of his goodwill and
saintly integrity. It may be presumed also--while his humble
congregation were listening to the moral precepts which he delivered
from the pulpit, and to the Christian exhortations that they should love
their neighbours as themselves, and do as they would be done unto--that
peculiar efficacy was given to the preacher's labours by recollections
in the minds of his congregation, that they were called upon to do no
more than his own actions were daily setting before their eyes.