the boys used to glide rapidly in sledges[1]. The old church is to be visited, and the ancient Lady-chapel, with two large pews, in one of which James Thomason would sit with the Preston family, while in the other might be sitting young Wilberforce, young Macaulay and others. In the chancel is the altar-rail, where James must have knelt to receive his first Communion.
After staying here about four years, he is transferred he care of Mr. (afterwards Archdeacon) Hodson at Stansted in Sussex, near the border of Hampshire. He loses the companionship of Macaulay who had gone to Cambridge, but he gains that of Wilberforce's second son, Samuel, the future Bishop. Mr. Hodson was at that time Chaplain to Mr. Lewis Way who worked hard, together with Simeon, for the conversion of the Jews. Mr. Way lived at Stansted Hall situated in a spacious park, and Simeon was a frequent guest. This house, dating back to the fifteenth century, was reconstructed at the end of the seventeenth century, by a noble family, in the style of the period from James II to Queen Anne. Its elegant character both inside and outside remains unchanged. It was in the hands of more than one noble family, and from its records appears to have been honoured by several royal visits. Mr. Hodand his distinguished pupils dwelt in a neighbouring house, but they must have been constantly in the park, with its oak forests and its noble avenue of
- ↑ The present proprietor of Aspeden Hall was himself in one of the sledges.
