Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 30.djvu/409

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and no wig, allowing his thin hair to grow long at the sides of his head. In manner he was courteous, and in disposition affectionate, tender, and compassionate. Though he was learned, there is no ground for ranking him with the most learned men of the time; he was accomplished, having a knowledge of French, Italian, and Spanish, and was a musician and a poet. He was an eloquent and energetic preacher. In speech and action he was guided by conscience rather than by logical reasoning; his conscience was tender and his feelings sensitive. By nature he seems to have been quick-tempered, but was always ready to ask pardon of any whom he had offended. In the cause of right he was outspoken and courageous. Liberal, unselfish, and unostentatious, he gave largely, though his means were small. Ten portraits of Ken, painted by unknown artists, are extant, one in the palace at Wells, one at Longleat, two at Winchester College, two at New College, one at Oriel College, one in the National Portrait Gallery, one in the possession of the family of J. L. Anderdon, and one belonging to Mr. Wickham of Horsington, Somerset. Several portraits exist on medals and in engravings of the ‘Seven Bishops.’ An engraving of Ken's portrait by Vertue in the British Museum is copied in Dean Plumptre's ‘Life of Bishop Ken.’

As early as 1711 Dryden's description of the poor parson of a town, from Chaucer, was appropriated to Ken (Preface to Expostularia), and a panegyric was written on him in English and Latin verse by the laureate, Joshua Perkins. Bowles's ‘Life’ in 1830 revived the reverence felt for him, which was further heightened by the high church movement at Oxford. J. H. Newman, in No. lxxv. of ‘Tracts for the Times,’ published in June 1836, drew out a form of service for 21 March, the day of Ken's burial; Isaac Williams celebrated him in ‘Lyra Apostolica,’ No. cxiii., and his ‘Cathedral,’ p. 58; and Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton) wrote verses on his tomb. In 1848 a memorial window was set up in Frome parish church by the Marchioness of Bath; in 1867 his bust was placed in the shire-hall at Taunton; and in 1885 a window was set up to his memory in Wells Cathedral, and a commemorative service was held on 29 June, the anniversary of the trial of the ‘Seven Bishops.’

Ken's prose works were published, a few pieces only, by his nephew and executor, Hawkins, in 1713, by Round in 1838, and by the Rev. W. Benham in the ‘Ancient and Modern Library of Theological Literature’ in 1889. There have been attributed to Ken: 1. ‘The Retired Christian,’ rejected by Hawkins, Round, and others as undoubtedly spurious. 2. ‘Expostularia,’ a complaint of the church of England regarding the abuses of her system, published under the title of ‘Ichabod’ in 1663, when Ken was twenty-six, as ‘Lachrymæ Ecclesiæ’ in 1689, as ‘Expostularia’ on his death in 1711, and as the ‘Church of England's Complaint’ in 1737. As soon as the 1711 edition appeared with Ken's name, Hawkins inserted an advertisement in the ‘Post-boy’ declaring it spurious; the book excited Hearne's indignation, though he soon acknowledged the justice of its contents, and, while doubting its genuineness, did not see why it might ‘not bear so great a name;’ it is rejected by Round and Anderdon, but Dean Plumptre believes it to be Ken's work, and Mr. Benham has included it in his collection. In addition to Hawkins's rejection, which may fairly be held fatal to its pretension, it seems unlikely that ‘Ichabod’ should have been written by a man so modest as Ken at the age of twenty-six. 3. ‘The Royal Sufferer, a Manual of Meditations and Devotions,’ by T. K., D.D., 8vo, 1699; and 12mo, 1701, republished in 1725, with Ken's name, as the ‘Crown of Glory,’ addressed to James II; generally, and as far as its contents are concerned, not without fair ground, held to be spurious, though Dean Plumptre is inclined to accept it as genuine. The prose writings known to be Ken's are: 1. ‘Manual of Prayers for the use of Winchester Scholars,’ 1674, 1681, and with the ‘Hymns for Morning, Evening, and Midnight,’ 1695, and numerous editions, the hymns being also published separately in 1862, and with an introduction by Sir Roundell Palmer (Lord Selborne), 1864. ‘His elaborate works,’ says Macaulay, ‘have long been forgotten; but his morning and evening hymns (“Awake my soul,” and “Glory to Thee, my God, this night”) are still repeated daily in thousands of dwellings.’ 2. ‘Funeral Sermon’ for Lady Maynard, 1682; 3rd edit. 1688. 3. ‘Sermon preached at Whitehall,’ 1685. 4. ‘Practice of Divine Love,’ an exposition of the catechism, 1685, with ‘Directions for Prayer,’ 1686; other editions, translated into French, 1703; into Italian, 1865. 5. ‘Sermon preached at Whitehall, 1 April 1687,’ see above. 6. ‘Prayers for the use of all resorting to the Baths at Bath,’ reprinted 1692; with Life by Markland, 1848. 7. ‘Pastoral Letter,’ 1688, 1722, a ‘Letter to Clergy’ on behalf of the French protestants, articles of visitation, private letters, of which forty-eight are printed by Round, and many more by Dean Plumptre. 8. ‘A Letter to the Author [Archbishop Tenison] of a Sermon