To the everyday reader Thomas Hearne, if at all, is chiefly known by the
Diary which he kept for thirty years, viz., from 1705 when he was
twenty-seven years of age, until his death. This, in 145 volumes, is
preserved in the Bodleian Library, and is, I believe, in course of
publication. What I have to say is founded on Bliss's _Reliquiae
Hearnianae_, {29a} which consists of extracts from the above-mentioned
diary. Mr Bliss naturally selected passages referring to well-known
books or persons of note; but he was wise enough to include what a
pompous editor would have omitted as trifling. It is these which are
especially valuable to one who tries to give a picture of Hearne's simple
and lovable character.
The following account of Thomas Hearne, written by himself, is from the
Appendix to vol. i. of _The Lives of John Leland_, _Thomas Hearne_, _and
Anthony a Wood_, 1772. {29b}
Thomas was the son of George Hearne, Parish Clerk of White Waltham,
Berks. He was born at Littlefield Green "within the said parish of White
Waltham." Thomas, "being naturally inclined to Learning, he soon became
Master of the English Tongue." {30a}
Even when a boy Hearne was "much talked of," and this "occasioned that
Learned Gentleman, Francis Cherry, {30b} Esq., to put him to the Free
School of Bray {30c} in Berks on purpose to learn the Latin Tongue, which
his Father was not entirely Master of; this was about the beginning of
the year 1693." "Not only the Master himself, but all the other Boys had
a very particular Respect for him, and could not but admire and applaud
his Industry and Application.
"Mr Cherry being fully satisfied of the great and surprising Progress he
had made, by the advice of that good and learned Man Mr Dodwell (who then
lived at Shottesbrooke), he resolved to take him into his own House,
which accordingly he did about Easter in 1795 {31} and provided for him
as if he had been his own Son."
In the Easter Term 1696 he began life at Oxford as a Batteler of Edmund
Hall, where he was soon employed by the Principal in the "learned Works
in which he was engaged."
"As soon as ever Mr Hearne had taken the Degree of Batchelor of Arts [in
Act Term 1699] he constantly went to the Bodleian Library every day, and
studied there as long as the time allowed by the Statutes would admit."
This led to his being appointed Assistant Keeper of the Bodleian.
"Being settled in this employment, it is incredible what Pains he took in
regulating the Library, in order to which he examined all the printed
Books in it, comparing every Volume with Catalogue set out many years
before by Dr Hyde." It seems that this was very imperfect, and Hearne
supplied a new catalogue. He afterwards dealt with the MSS. and the
collection of coins.
In 1703 he took his M.A., and was offered Chaplaincies at two Colleges,
but was not allowed to accept either of them. In 1712 he became "Second
Keeper" of the Library. This position he accepted on condition that he
might still be Janitor without the salary attaching to that position. He
desired to retain the office because it gave him access to the Library at
all hours. In 1713 he declined the Librarianship of the Royal Society.
In January 1714/15 his troubles began with his election as
"Architypographus and Superior or Esque Beadle in Civil Law." But after
he had been elected, the Vice-Chancellor appointed, as Architypographus,
a common printer, and Hearne resigned the Beadleship, but "continued to
execute the office of librarian as long as he could obtain access to the
library; but on 23rd January 1716, the last day fixed by the new Act for
taking the oaths to the Hanoverian Dynasty, he was actually prevented
from entering the library, and soon after formally deprived of his office
on the ground of 'neglect of duty'" (_Dict. Nat. Biog._).
It is not necessary to follow in detail the ill-usage he received. He
was afterwards treated with more consideration. Thus in 1720 it appears
that he might have had the Camden Professorship of History, but again the
oaths stood in his way. He also declined the living of Bletchley in
Buckinghamshire. In 1729 he refused to be a candidate for the place of
Chief Keeper of the Bodleian Library. In his own words "he retired to
Edmund-Hall, and lived there very privately . . . furnishing himself with
Books, partly from his Study, and partly by the help of friends."
It is evident that his literary work was well remunerated, because a "sum
of money amounting to upwards of one thousand Pounds was found in his
Room after his decease." This statement, together with the date of his
death (10th June 1735), are clearly part of the design to conceal the
authorship of the biography.
In the following pages I have chosen what seem to me to be interesting
extracts from Hearne's Diary, which begins 4th July 1705, and concludes
1st June 1735. I shall give what especially illustrates the conditions
of life at Oxford from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the
date of the author's death.
There was plenty of barbarism remaining in Oxford life, for instance, 4th
September 1705:--
"The Book called _The Memorial_ was burnt last Saturday at the Sessions
house, by the hands of the common hang-man, and this week the same will
be done at the Royal Exchange and Palace-Yard, Westminster." In the same
month, however, we find pleasanter record, _e.g._, the first mention of
one who (though I think they never met) became his most valued
correspondent.
"Last night I was with Mr Wotton (who writ the _Essay on Ancient and
Modern Learning_) at the tavern. . . . Mr Wotton told me Mr Baker of St
John's College, Cambridge, had writ the history and antiquities of that
college; and that he is in every way qualified (being a very industrious
and judicious man) to write the hist. and antiq. of that university."
Thomas Baker, b. 1656, d. 1740, was a Fellow of St John's College,
Cambridge, but on the accession of George I. he would not take the oath
of allegiance and lost his Fellowship. The College, however, treated him
with consideration and he was allowed to remain as a _commoner-master_
until his death. He worked indefatigably, and gained the deserved
"reputation of being inferior to no living English scholar in his minute
and extended acquaintance with the antiquities of our national history"
(_Dict. Nat. Biog._).