College, Brewer, in 1855, was appointed professor of the English language and literature and lecturer in modern history. An ardent lover of the classics, he was not less devoted to English literature, the study of which he invariably combined with that of modern history as the only mode of making either study fruitful; and his method of teaching was highly calculated to awaken the best thinking power in his hearers. His classes both at King's College and afterwards in the Working Men's College, where he for some years assisted Mr. Maurice, and ultimately succeeded him as principal, were always numerously attended by a highly interested audience.
He was also busy with his pen—at first mainly as a journalist. From about the year 1854 he continued for six years to write in the columns of the 'Morning Post,' the 'Morning Herald,' and the 'Standard,' of which last paper he became the editor. He resigned in consequence of a dispute with the manager about the employment of a Roman catholic contributor, whose claims he supported. Thoroughly liberal-minded, he appreciated every man's capacity, whatever his leanings might be, and strove to give every one a fair field for his talents. But he soon became absorbed in other work, far less remunerative, though in his eyes of very high importance; and after quitting the 'Standard' he wrote little in any newspaper except a number of very strong letters in the 'Globe' against the policy of disestablishing the Irish Church. In 1856 he was commissioned by the master of the rolls, Sir John Romilly, to prepare a calendar of the state papers of Henry VIII—a work of peculiar labour, involving concurrent investigations at the Record Office and the British Museum, as well as at Lambeth and other public libraries; and in this he continued to be engaged till the day of his death. His advice was for a long time continually sought by Sir Thomas Hardy, the deputy-keeper of the public records, on matters connected with the literary work of the office. He was also appointed by Lord Romilly reader at the Rolls, and afterwards preacher there—a post of greater name than emolument. Some years later he was consulted by the delegates of the Clarendon Press as to a projected series of English classics, of which several volumes have now been published. The plan of the series was drawn up by Brewer, and it was intended that he should write a general introduction to it; but he died before the scheme was sufficiently advanced to enable him to do so.
In 1877 the crown living of Toppesfield in Essex was given to him by Mr. Disraeli, who was then prime minister. He gave up his professorship at King's College, but still remained editor of the calendar of Henry VIII, though he endeavoured to take his editorial work more lightly, while he threw himself into his parochial duties with the zeal and energy he had displayed in everything else. For some time his usually robust health had been slightly impaired. In February 1879 he caught cold after a long walk to visit a sick parishioner. The illness soon affected his heart, and in three days he died.
His principal works are those which he produced for the Record Office, among which the calendar of 'Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII' holds the first place. The prefaces to the volumes of this calendar have been collected and published in a separate form with the title of 'the Reign of Henry VIII,' 1884, under the editorship of J. Gairdner. And besides some other calendars and official reports, his 'Monumenta Franciscana,' and his editions of certain works of Roger Bacon and Giraldus Cambrensis, also published for the master of the rolls, deserve particular mention. Besides these he published, through ordinary channels, Bishop Goodman's account of the 'Court of King James I.,' an admirable edition of Fuller's 'Church History,' another of Bacon's 'Novum Organum,' 'An Elementary Atlas of History and Geography,' and the 'Student's Hume,' revised edition 1878. He was also the author of some treatises published by the Christian Knowledge Society on the 'Athanasian Creed' and the 'Endowments and Establishment of the Church of England.' Early in his career he had also undertaken an edition of Field's 'Book of the Church,' of which, however, only one volume was issued, in 1843. Dr. Wace edited in 1881 his 'English Studies,' reprinted from the 'Quarterly Review.'
[Memoir prefixed to Brewer's English Studies by Dr. Wace, supplemented by personal knowledge and information derived from the family.]
BREWER, SAMUEL (d. 1743?), botanist, was a native of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where he possessed a small estate, and was engaged in the woollen manufacture, but seems to have been unsuccessful in business. He communicated some plants to Dillenius for the third edition of Ray's 'Synopsis,' published in 1724, and accompanied the editor in 1726 from Trowbridge to the Mendips, and thence to Bristol, passing onward to North Wales and Anglesey. Brewer remained in Bangor for more than a twelvemonth, botanising with Rev. W. Green and W. Jones, and sending dried plants to Dillenius, particularly
