KGM4 The Life and Times of Zachariah Mudge - Written in 1883

The Life and Times of Zachariah Mudge - Written in 1883

ZACHARIAH MUDGE. Prebendary of Exeter: Vicar of St. Andrew's, Plymouth,

Not propp'd by ancestry . .

"The force of his own merits makes his way." Henry viii.


ZACHARIAH MUDGE was a native of Exeter, in the county of Devon, and was born in the year 1694. Nothing is known of his origin, except that his parents were in humble circumstances, and were probably of the artisan class. He received his early education at the Grammar School in Exeter, where he shewed himself then, even at that early age, a boy of remarkable ability. He remained there till the age of 13 or 14, when in 1710 he was sent to Mr. Hallett's Academy in the same city, that he might be trained for the non-conformist ministry, his family being Presbyterians.

Here also he maintained his character for intelligence, and shewed considerable aptitude for learning. In early life, out of school, he shewed also the same enquiring disposition, and thirst for knowledge. On one occasion, during the holidays, he set out and walked to London with only a few pence in his pocket. The immediate cause of this expedition was that he had the misfortune, while still a lad, to fall in love with a certain Mary Fox, whom, a few years later, he married.

She was older than he was and declined his attentions: this drove him to desperation. Accordingly,'' I quote from Mr. Fox's account, ''one day he marches off, without any money in his pocket, any linen to change, or any recommendation to any one person in the world to supply his necessities, and very heroically takes the road to London ; I have forgot what particular passages befell him in his journey thither, though I have heard the story from himself, but I remember he told me that when he came there he had not one farthing to get a lodging, or to buy a piece of bread, till by accident he found a half-penny as he was crossing St. James' Park; with this he bought a brick , and then proceeded to the Tower Wharf to try if he could get on board a ship that was bound to the East or West Indies.

But in this he was disappointed, for he could find no master or voyage, and it now growing towards night, and hunger, weariness, and grief pressing upon him, he knew not where to go, or what to do ; at length observing some empty sugar hogsheads upon the wharf, he thought it would be better lodging in one of them, than in the street, and accordingly got into one of them, and took up his lodging there for that night. He slept soundly, and got out early next morning without being taken notice of, and then went in pursuit of his favourite scheme again to enter aboard some vessel bound abroad, but this absolutely failing, and being reduced to begging or starving, he began to entertain some thoughts of returning home, and accordingly he pursued his journey with all that expedition, which his affairs required.

His first night's lodging was under a hedge, he having nothing to purchase a little straw, much less a bed, but he slept well, and should have been much refreshed, had he not fallen into a dream, which much discomposed him ; what the dream was I know not, but it had a great effect on him, for he travelled a vast way in his sleep, and crossed many a hedge in the night, and at last awoke in a terrible surprise, not knowing where he was, or how he got there ; at length he met a person, who told him where he was, and by whose direction he found the way to Salisbury, where providence directed him to an old school- fellow, who relieved his hunger, and gave him lodging.
 
From thence he came directly to Exeter, to the great joy of his mother, who after all the inquiry she could make about him, had given him up for lost, and expected to hear that he was either hanged or drowned." On his return, his only distress was, that he had worn out his shoes by his long tramp. He used often in after He to refer to his juvenile excursion, which he always mentioned with much
pleasure.

His schooling was paid for by a Mr. George Trosse, who thought highly of his abilities, and in his will, dated November 23rd, 171 1, when he was 81 years of age, left all his Hebrew, Greek, Latin and French books, to be divided between his cousin John Trosse and Zachary Mudge, ''to be equally divided, but the said Zachary Mudge to have the choice of each division." This legacy no doubt gave
him the first incentive to the Study of Hebrew, in which he became so great a proficient.

When he had completed his education at Mr. Hallett's, he became second Master in the School of Mr. John Reynolds , Vicar of St. Thomas the Apostle in Exeter.

This was an important step in his life.

It was doubtless under Mr. Reynolds' influence that he first turned his thoughts to a comparison of the doctrines of the Established Church, and those of the non-conformist body to which he belonged. And it was doubtless more- over at this time, that the seeds of that friendship were sown, which bore fruit in a life-long intimacy with his son

MS. entitled " Worthies of Devon," by Mr. J. Fox, formerly belonging to James Northcote, now in the Proprietary Library, Plymouth.

Zachariah Mudge must have married Mary Fox soon after he joined Mr. Reynolds' School, in the year 1713, by whom he had three children, Zachariah, Mary, and Thomas, while residing in Exeter.

In 1717 after the birth of his son Thomas, or early in 1718, he left Exeter, and went to reside at Bideford, where he undertook the charge of the Grammar School. He was nominated to the Mastership of the School by Miss Sarah Stucley, a lady in the neighbourhood ; she was the daughter of the celebrated Lewis Stucley, Chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and married George Buck, Mayor of Bideford.

Here Mr. Mudge took boarders into his house, and the School became, under his successful management, in a more flourishing condition, than it had been for many years.
Amongst the scholars he produced, may be mentioned Dr. John Shebhare, who was pensioned at the commencement of the reign of George II, at the same time with Johnson, which occasioned the pun, that the King had bestowed his favours on a he-bear and a she-bear."

In 1718 his son Richard was born, and in 1721 his youngest son, John.

During 'this period of his life he entered into a long correspondence with Bishop Weston of Exeter, on the Doctrines of the Established Church, and in this correspondence he was joined by his friend Samuel Reynolds.

This correspondence, which has unfortunately been lost, resulted in Mr. Mudge joining the Church of England.

It is much to his credit, that when he became a member of the Church of England, he sent to the West of England Branch of the Non-Conformist Association to which he belonged, the sum of £50, a sum which he considered would repay them for any expenses his education might have cost them.
 

In 1729 he decided on taking Holy Orders, and applied to the Bishop. Bishop Weston very carefully
examined him, an unusual thing in those days, being scrupulous of granting Orders to one, who had not had a University Education ; but when he had examined him, and found what a master he was of the learned languages, he was astonished, and not only ordained him, but ever after- wards treated him with very particular respect.

Mr. Mudge was ordained Deacon on September 21st, 1729, St. Matthew's Day, and Priest on the following Sunday, September 27th.

In December of the same year he was instituted to the living of Abbotsham near Bideford, on the presentation of Lord Chancellor King. He owed this preferment to a Mr. John Atkins of Exeter, in whose house his wife had formerly resided. In 1732 he became a candidate for the Church of St. Andrew's, Plymouth, being induced to do so by a Mr. Herrings who for some time was Churchwarden
of that Church.

 Mr. Mudge was introduced to Mr. Tolcher one of the Aldermen of Plymouth, with whom lay the Election of a Vicar, by a Mr. Thomas Jan, a gentleman of considerable fortune near Bideford, in the following terms :

This accompanies my worthy friend Mr. Mudge, who I hear is well recommended, and hath your interest to be your Vicar, so I need say nothing to induce you to be hearty, and to exert yourself for his succeeding therein, which if he doth, I am very sure your Parish and Town will be happy in a virtuous good man, and an ornament to his Profession. I have known him long, and have so great a value for him that his leaving this town will make me like, and be much less at, it, than hitherto, yet I can't but
wish him in a place where he'll shine, and be better known than in the small Parish he hath at present.

The candidates preached before the election at St. Andrew's, that the Mayor, Corporation, and Inhabitants might judge of their respective abilities. Mr. Mudge was so eloquent and impressive, that he obtained the suffrages of the majority of the Electors.

The account of his election and induction is recorded in an old Diary :

''August 23rd. This day came on the election for a Vicar for St. Andrew's Church wheare one Dr. Burnett and Mr. Zachariah Mudge was put up as candidates, and Mr. Wadon, Mayor, after all the Government had struck , said there was fourteen for Dr. Burnett, and fifteen for Mr. Zachariah Mudge, but then Mr. Mayor said that all the Government was not theare and talks of adjourning to the houses of two, which weare then sick in theare beds, and one of them almost dying, but the opposite party said there was never any such custom, but only those that did meet to the Guildhall, which caused a great dispute, and the Black Book was sent for, and thare it appeared very plain it was to be decided by them only which appeared at the Guild-hall, and had most strokes of the Electors theare, and then Mr. Mayor declared Mr. Zachariah Mudge, Vicar of St. Andrew's Parish.

 A man admired by most of the town, but only a sett of men used all the arts, and base tricks, to set him aside ; theare weare severall other candidates sett up, but those trickers got them all to give up theare pretentions purely to put aside the said Mr. Mudge, though a  very deserving man both in lerning, and moralls. For Mr. Mudge, was 7 aldermen and 8 common counsell. For the Doctor, 4 aldermen and 9 others. The said Mr. Mudge was inducted the 15th day of September, being Friday, just after the morning prayers, which was after this manner.
 
Mr. Bowden y^ Vicar of Charles' Parish, and Mr. Foster Elector (Lecturer) of St. Andrew's and Mr. Cocke and Mr. Hering, the two Churchwardens with a few others with Mr. Mudge stood at the chancell doore, every body beings com out of church, they lockt the doore and then they unlockt it and let ye said Mr. Mudge walk in, then lock the doore upon him, then he goes and made sum short prayer, as is supos'd to himself, it being usual at such tyme, then he went in the tower and struck severall strokes on one of the bells, and came out to the aforesaid gentlemen, and ask them to walk into his church, when they walked in and signed the instrument, he brought from the Bishop's Court,
and then all that weare there wish't him long life and happiness, then he invited them to drink a glass of wine to Morgans after evening prayers, having no place of his own. — Mark, none signed it but they who let him in."

Such is the account of Mr. Mudge's induction into the Living of St. Andrew's, worth it is said at that time £2000 a year. Thus, notwithstanding the obstacles of birth and education, by his own abilities and perseverance he found himself before the age of forty appointed to one of the most valuable and important preferments in the west of England.

The Bishop still maintained his regard for him, for on December i8th, 1736, Mr. Mudge was made Prebendary of Exeter.

In 1739 he published a volume of Sermons, dedicated to the Bishop of Exeter. Those sermons have
always been held in high estimation for the strength of their reasoning, and the hard matter they embodied in them, particularly those On the Evils of Anarchy,'' and " On the Origin and Obligation of Government."

 One of these * Sermons on different subjects. London, Printed for S. Birt, at the Bible and Ball, in Ave-Mary-Lane ; E. Score, over against the Guildhall, Exeter ; and B. Smithurst, at Plymouth, 1739.

two, the last most probably, was reprinted by his friend Edmund Burke in the form of a pamphlet, who considered it, as he said, the best Antidote to the Jacobin principles of the day, and referred to it in the House of Commons.

Lord Chatham also used to speak very highly of these sermons, the volume was a favourite work with him. It is not fifty years ago since this volume was recommended, amongst other standard works of English Divines, by Bishops for the study of Candidates for Holy Orders. Sir Joshua talked of republishing the whole of these sermons, but he did not carry his intentions into effect. Sir Joshua on one occasion praising Mr. Mudge's sermons, Johnson answered, " Mudge's sermons are good, but not practical.

He grasps more sense than he can hold, he takes more corn than he can make into a meal, he opens a wide prospect, but it is distant, it is indistinct."

Dr. Watken's in an account of Mr. Mudge, says that, besides the book of Sermons, he printed a single sermon preached at the visitation of Bishop Lavington. This discourse according to Dr. Watkens is a well reasoned discussion of the arguments in favour of an establishment ; he never saw but one copy of it, which he gave, with the volume of serm.ons, to Bishop Horsley, who expressed a desire to keep them with a strong approbation of their merit.

In 1744, Mr. Mudge published a translation of the Psalms with notes, from the original Hebrew, which he calls ** An Essay towards a new English version of the Book of Psalms, from the Original Hebrew."
 
 Of this book Orme remarks, ''His Hebrew criticisms are not always sound, though his version of particular Psalms are frequently elegant and happy;'' and of his notes Horne says,
"Some of his notes are more ingenious than solid"' He gave up much time for many years to the translation of the Bible from the Hebrew, a considerable portion of which he lived to accomplish, but it has never been published. Mr, Gandy alludes to this work of his life in a sermon which he preached after Mr. Mudge's death at St. Andrew's.

His character was indeed rendered truly amiable and respectable by an union of the best qualities of the head and heart. His understanding, naturally vigorous and comprehensive, was enlarged and disciplined by study and contemplation ; well versed in every branch of learning, and nicely skilled in the original languages of the sacred writings, he bent himself almost wholly to the work he was so well fitted to undertake, and to which the obligations of his profession very happily led him ; the testimonies of God were indeed his delight and his councillors, and in the latter years of his life were scarcely ever out of his hands. Hence his profound knowledge in the doctrines, as well as the duties of Religion, which in these matters made his authority almost decisive. The public already enjoy some
fruit of his learned labours, in the elucidation of the Holy Scriptures, and it were much to be lamented by all that wish well to the interests of Piety and good learning, if any production of so much genius should be lost to the world."

Mr. Fox who at times speaks somewhat disparagingly of Mr. Mudge, however bears testimony to his ability and learning. His character is so well known in the places where he had lived, that I need say but little about it. He was without dispute what we call a genius, and had it been his fortune ever to have been known at the Temple, the Rolls, or at Boyle's Lectures, he would certainly have passed for a great man.

" How far his own scheme of Christianity would have passed upon the world I know not, for it was very metaphysical, and fit only for the perusal of deeply abstracted minds. •

He always thought, or pretended to think, that all other schemes were defective, which I suppose might be the reason why in the first place he was a thorough Deist. He once talked it over with Dr. Clarke, who I was told had little to say against it, though I never heard, that he ever said anything for it. He had a good measure of contempt for all our great men, both divines and philosophers, he allowed them indeed to be honest, but then he said, they saw but a little way."^

^ If a like tendency to depreciate were not noticeable in other lives contained in the MS, the fact that Mr. Mudge left the non-conformist body in which Mr. Fox was a minister, and he never seems quite to have forgiven his friend for so doing, might suggest a cause. Moreover Northcote well says that it is very easy to make any one appear ridiculous with whom one lives on terms of intimacy. which he did.

Mr. Mudge was very particular in the discharge of his parochial and religious duties, and whilst he was able he always took part in the Church services. For some years he had a Curate to assist him in his work, the Rev. John Gandy, for whom he conceived great regard ; he was most anxious for him to succeed him at his death, in the Vicarage^ which he did ; and these two, so attached to each other,
presided over the Parish of St. Andrew's for 92 years.


In society Mr. Mudge was extremely affable and cheerful, and was particularly fond of the company of children, and young people, but, as he advanced in years, afraid that his age might be a restraint on their mirth, he would after a while steal away, and then rub his hands and say he had gained a victory over himself.

In conversation he showed himself a man of much thought, never content with taking a superficial view of any subject, but was accustomed to look deeply into things and
thus judge of their effects.

One of his sayings used to be If you take too much care of yourself, nature will cease to take care of you.'*  On one occasion being asked what he considered to be the first quality of style in writing, he replied, " unmistakeable perspicuity."

His son. Dr. Mudge, relates the following anecdote of him :

I was accustomed to hasten to my father with any great news that arrived, but was often mortified by his not receiving it with the warmth that animated myself. When the news of Wolfe's victory at Quebec arrived, I hastened to him with the Gazette, and after reading it to him with much glee, I could not avoid remarking to him that he did not seem elated with this great success ; on which he said,

'Son, son, it will do very well, whilst the Americans have the sea one side, and the French on the other; but take away the French, and they will not want our protection.'

He clearly saw at the moment in the capture of Quebec, the expulsion of the French from Canada, and the consequent independence of America."

Dr. Johnson made Mr. Mudge's acquaintance when on a visit to Plymouth in 1762. Boswell speaks of this visit in his life of Johnson. ''Reynolds and he (Dr. Johnson) were at this time the guests of Dr. Mudge, the celebrated surgeon and physician of that place, not more distinguished for quickness of parts and variety of knowledge, than loved and esteemed for his amiable manners ; and here Dr. Johnson formed an acquaintance with Dr. Mudge's father, that very eminent divine the Reverend Zachariah Mudge, Prebendary of Exeter, who was idolized in the west, both for his excellence as a preacher, and the uniform perfect propriety of his private conduct. He preached a sermon purposely that Dr. Johnson might hear him, and we shall see afterwards that Johnson honoured his memory by
drawing his character."

On one occasion, during his visit to Plymouth, the following little incident occurred. One of the civic authorities, an old man, did himself the honour to call on Dr. Johnson on a Sunday morning and conduct him to the Alderman's seat in St. Andrew's Church. Very proud of his companion he tried to make the most of him, and not being quite so religiously minded as the Doctor, he interrupted him during the service by several trifling remarks ; the Doctor at last became indignant, and rising up thundered out, I am surprised that an old man, and a magistrate, does not know how to conduct himself in the house of God."

While at Plymouth, Johnson saw a great many of its inhabitants, and was not sparing of his entertaining conversation. It was here that a lady asked him one day how he came to define in his Dictionary, Pastern the knee of a horse ; instead of making an elaborate defence as she expected, he at once answered, " Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance."

No doubt more than once Johnson partook of the hospitality of the Vicarage. On one occasion when dining there, Johnson, whose * inextinguishable thirst for tea' is well known, after having disposed of seventeen cups of tea, presented his cup to Mrs. Mudge for another, ''what"! said the lady, whose skill in tea making had been no doubt tried by this unusual demand on her teapot, ''what ! another,
Dr. Johnson'' " Madam, you are rude!'

This reminds us of an occurrence at a Mrs. Cumberland's, where both Johnson and Reynolds were dining. Sir Joshua ventured to remind Johnson that he had had eleven cups of tea, which drew down on himself the reprimand,

" Sir I did not count your glasses of wine, why should you number up my cups of tea ? and then laughing in perfect good humour, he added, " Sir — I should have released the lady from any further trouble, if it had not been for your remark ; but you have reminded me that I want one of the dozen, and I must request Mrs. Cumberland to round up my number." When he saw the readiness and complacency, with which that lady obeyed his call, he turned a kind and cheerful look upon her and said, Madam I must tell you, for your comfort, you have escaped much better than a certain lady did awhile ago, upon whose patience I intruded greatly more than I have done upon yours ; but the lady
asked me for no other purpose but to make a zany of me, and set me gabbling to a parcel of people I knew nothing of So Madam I had my revenge of her, for I swallowed five and twenty cups of tea, and did not treat her with as many words.''

Whether the lady here referred to is Mrs. Mudge we do not know, though it is quite probable that it is. She was of a careful and economical disposition, and it must have sorely gone against the grain with her, thus to minister to Johnson's insatiable thirst. Dr. Mudge, her son, used to- say she was specially parsimonious in little things, and instances the fact that when he was a child, if he asked her for an apple, she could not bear to give him a good one, and always contrived to pick out the worst.

We leave Johnson and his teacups with the lines he made one day at Miss Reynolds tea table.

" Oh ! hear it then my Renny dear,
Nor hear it with a frown —
You cannot make the tea so fast,
As I can gulp it down.''

Mr. Mudge generally made, in his later years, an excursion to London annually with his wife to visit his friends Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, accompanied by a female servant. Travelling at that time was not very rapid, they took their time about the journey, and the same chaise and horses with an old postilion called Pinchy, took them from Plymouth to London and back.

It was on these visits that he formed and maintained his acquaintance with Burke, whom he met with many other distinguished men, Garrick, Goldsmith, and others at his friends' houses. Burke refers to his acquaintance with Mr. Mudge, and the influence Mr. Mudge had over Sir Joshua Reynolds' character, in a letter written to Mr. Malone in 1797.

" Though Johnson had done much to enlarge and Strengthen his habit of thinking, Sir Joshua did not owe his first rudiments of speculation to him. He has always told me, that he owed his first disposition to generalize, and to view things in the abstract, to old Mr. Mudge, Prebendary of Exeter, and father of the celebrated mechanic of that name. I have myself seen Mr. Mudge the clergyman at Sir Joshua's house. He was a learned and venerable old man ; and, as I thought very conversant in the Platonic philosophy, and very fond of that method of philosophizing.


He had been originally a dissenting minister, a description which at that time bred very considerable men, both among those who adhered to it, and those who left it. He had entirely cured himself of the unpleasant narrowness, which in the early part of his life had distinguished those gentlemen, and perfectly free from the ten times more dangerous enlargement, which has been since then their general characteristic.

"Sir Joshua had always a great love for the whole of that family, and took a great interest in whatever related to them.

His acquaintance with the Mudges ought to be reckoned among the earliest of his literary connections. If the work (the 2nd edition of Malone's book) should come to a second edition, I hope you will not omit this very material circumstance, in the institution of a mind like that of our friend. It was from him that I first got a view of the few that have been published of Mr. Mudge's sermons. and on conversing afterwards with Mr. Mudge I found great traces of Sir Joshua Reynolds in him, and, if I may say so, much of the manner of the Master Burke wrote this letter, on receipt of the first edition
of Malone s book , he was then dying.

Malone had requested him to throw his thoughts on paper relative to Sir Joshua Reynolds, while he was employed in drawing up his account of Sir Joshua. Burke, being very ill at the time, could do no more than put down a few hints, which after his death were transmitted to him.

"He was a great generalizer, and was fond of reducing everything to one system ; more perhaps than the variety of principles, which operate in the human mind and in every human work, will properly endure. But this disposition to abstractions, generalizations, and classifications, is the great glory of the human mind ; that, indeed, which most distinguishes man from other animals, and is the source of
everything that can be called science. I believe his early acquaintance with Mr. Mudge of Exeter, a very learned and thinking man, much inclined to philosophize in the spirit of the Platonists, disposed him to this habit. He certainly by that means liberalized in a high degree the theory of his own art, and if he had been more methodically instituted in the early part of his life, and had possessed more leisure for study and reflection, he would, in my opinion, have pursued this method with great success."

Mr. Mudge seems to have exercised a remarkable influence over the minds of those who came in contact with him ; according to Northcote, by Johnson and many others, he was * esteemed an idol ' ; Burke ^ always bowed to his opinion, and Sir Joshua used to say that he was the wisest man he had ever met with in his life. Mr. Mudge's word was with Reynolds a suflicient answer to any arguments.
On one occasion, when conversing with Northcote, he expressed his impatience of some innovations, at which the other said, At that rate the Christian Religion could never have been established." Oh ! " replied Reynolds, Mr. Mudge has answered that,"  which seemed to satisfy him perfectly.

In 1769 Mr. Mudge set out from Plymouth on his usual excursion to London, and slept the first night at Coffleet, the seat of Thomas Veale, Esquire, about 8 miles from Plymouth. Here he was seized with an attack of gout, which proved fatal on the 2nd of April. He always had a great sense of humour ; on the night of his death as a servant of Mr. Veale, Betty Miller, was rubbing his back, he said to her, " Betty, do you know your right hand from your left " t " Lor ! yes sir/' she answered, " I hope I do,'" 'Tis more than I do, for they appear both right hands to me.'' These were his last words.

Burke on having a grandson of Mr. Mudge introduced to him by Sir Joshua Reynolds, said, " I have lived in intimacy with two generations of Mudges, and have much pleasure in making the acquaintance of a third." on which he kindly replied,


The Body was brought back to Plymouth, and was interred by the Communion Table in his own Church, and on the next Sunday, Mr. Gandy preached the sermon before alluded to, taking for his text, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."

Once has his form been seen since, though but for a moment. Some few years ago during some alterations in the Church, the vault was opened. The coffin was decayed, but Mr. Bone the builder, who was present, saw as distinctly as possible the form of the old Vicar. Every feature was perfect, and on the head was a scarlet nightcap : but in an instant the whole had disappeared, and a little
dust only remained.

In the London Chronicle of May 2nd appeared his character drawn by Dr. Johnson.

He was a man equally eminent for his virtues and abilities, and at once beloved as a companion and reverenced as a pastor. He had that general curiosity to which no kind of knowledge is indifferent or superfluous, and that general benevolence by which no order of men is hated or despised.

"His principles both of thought and action were great and comprehensive. By a solicitous examination of objections, and judicious comparison of opposite arguments, he attained, what enquiry never gives but to industry and perspicuity; a firm and unshaken settlement of conviction, but his firmness was without asperity, for knowing with how much difficulty truth was sometimes found, he did not wonder that many missed it. The general course of his life was determined by his profession ; he studied the sacred volumes in the original languages ; with what diligence and success, his notes upon the Psalms give sufficient evidence. He once endeavoured to add the knowledge of Arabic to that of Hebrew ; but finding his thoughts too much diverted from other studies, after some time desisted from his purpose.

" His discharge of parochial duties was exemplary.

" How his sermons were composed may be learned from the excellent volume he has given to the public ; but how they were delivered can be known only to those who heard him. His delivery though unconstrained, was not negligent, and though forcible, was not turbulent. Disdaining any anxious nicety of emphasis and laboured artifice of action, it captivated the hearer by its natural dignity, it roused the sluggish and fixed the volatile, and detained the mind upon the subject without directing it to the speaker.

The grandeur and solemnity of the preacher did not intrude upon his general behaviour. At the table of his friends he was a companion, communicative and attentive, of unaffected manners, of manly cheerfulness, willing to please and easy to be pleased. His acquaintance was universally solicited, and his presence obstructed no enjoyment which religion did not forbid.

Though studious, he was popular ; though argumentative, he was modest ; though inflexible, he was candid ; and though metaphysical, he was orthodox'^

Mr. Mudge married, as we have previously said, Mary Fox ; the date of her death is not ascertained.

In 1764 he married Elizabeth Neell, who survived him. She died June 12th, 1782.
 

His features have been handed down to us in the portraits, which were painted of him by Hudson and
Reynolds.

Sir Joshua painted Mr. Mudge three times. For the first two pictures he sat in May 1761 and in May 1762. They are both nearly full face portraits. They have lost a good deal of their original colouring; and the second one has been cleaned, having been partly damaged by having a jug of boiling water thrown over it accidentally, when lying on a table. The third picture was painted in 1766, when Mr. Mudge was in his 72nd year.

In Sir Joshua s note book is this entry : " 1766 May — Mr. Mudge."

There is another portrait of Mr. Mudge by R. E. Pine, painted for his friend Mr, Heath, Town Clerk of Exeter, who in return presented Mr. Mudge with his portrait by the same artist. This latter hangs now in the Town Hall, Exeter. and Dr. Mudge's notes in his pocket book confirm it.

"1766 Tuesday, April 8th. My father set out for London at noon." ^'Thursday June 5th. My father and Mrs. Mudge returned from London."

"1767 Monday March 9th. Received my Father's picture from London."

Of this last mentioned portrait, which represents Mr. Mudge in deep thought, and which is well known by the excellent Mezzo-tinto engraving of it, Leslie in his life of Sir Joshua says:

The admiration of Reynolds for Dr. Mudge seems to have inspired him to surpass himself (if possible) in the Doctor's portrait. It is a noble head painted with great grandeur, and the most perfect truth of effect. The chin rests on the hand ; and Chantrey, who carved the whole composition in full relief, told me that when the marble was placed in the right light and shadow, the shape of the light, that falls behind the hand, and on the band and gown, was exactly the same in his bust as in the picture."^

Chantrey's fine representation in marble of the picture, stands at the East End of the South Aisle of St. Andrew's Church. It was executed at the instance of Mr. Rosdew at the cost of £500, and bears the following inscription :

" Zachariah Mudge, Prebendary of Exeter, and Vicar of St. Andrew's, Plymouth. Born 1694; died 1769. In private he was amiable and benevolent ; In his ministry faithful, eloquent and persuasive. Distinguished for knowledge among the learned, and for talent among men of Science."

The following letter is interesting, it is from Mr. Edmund Bastard, of Kitley, to Mr. Richard Rosdew, and refers to the bust which Chantrey was executing at the time.
 
"April 23rd, 1829,

My dear Rosdew,

I have seen Chantrey this morning as well as the Bust, with which the Archdeacon was exceedingly struck, as indeed every one must be. It is entirely finished, except smoothing off a little of the rough part of the block below the Bust, and making the place for the inscription, and engraving the inscription. All this may be done in a few days and by any of the workmen. Chantrey's part of the
work is completed.

With regard to the place, he is exceedingly anxious to see and select it himself, as the whole effect of the work must depend on the situation of the light, etc. For this purpose he has almost promised me to come down in the early part of the summer, but I am to see him again in a few days, when I hope to settle that point decidedly.

''At present he is very busy, as the works for the exhibition at Somerset House must be sent in on Monday and Tuesday. I think he will certainly come, if he possibly can, as he is very anxious about the matter. With regard to the inscription, he shewed me what you had sent him, viz :— a copy of the inscription on the grave stone. I told him I concluded that was what you wished to have, particularly as I believed it was from the pen of Dr. Johnson.

If I am not correct in this, pray let me know. The original inscription is

*Here lieth the Body of Zachariah Mudge.'

" I observe a pencil suggestion you have made to substitute for those words, 'Sacred to the Memory of Z. M.' which is quite correct. It occurred to me however, that it ' might be still better to omit the words altogether, and to have the inscription commenced simply with the words * Zachariah Mudge.'

" I mentioned this to Chantrey, and he agreed with me.

" I am however anxious to have your opinion about it, which I will communicate to him as soon as I receive it. I am happy to tell you that he will send off your picture in a few days, as he has quite done with it. Jackson has copied it for him in a manner quite satisfactory. He showed us the copy, and I think it the best copy I ever saw of any picture

Your sincere friend

Edmund P. Bastard."



So great was Chantrey's admiration of the portrait of Z. Mudge, that he offered to execute the bust without charge, if he might be allowed to retain the picture. As naturally he was not allowed to make such an arrangement, he was permitted to have the picture copied. This copy by Jackson is alluded to in this letter. At the sale after Lady Chantrey's death in 1853, it was put up as the portrait by-
Sir Joshua Reynolds. Evidently the public did not agree with the auctioneer in their opinion of the value and authenticity of the picture, as it was knocked down to a picture dealer named Farrar for £39 18s.

S. W. Reynolds, who has engraved this copy by Jackson, has perpetuated the mistake, by ascribing the picture to Reynolds, and saying further, " In possession of Sir Francis Chantrey.'  In May 1829, Mr. Bastard again refers to Chantrey and the bust. *'With regard to their visit to Devonshire, they are at present in such a state of uncertainty, whether to move altogether from their residence, or to alter and enlarge their present premises, that we can- not press them to fix the time.

''I have very little doubt however of their coming, particularly as Mr. Cunningham tells me, that Chantrey is sure to come to fix on the spot, as the work is so great a favourite ; so that when we have got the statue off he will be sure to follow'

Chantrey eventually did select the site for the bust.

On his coming to see the statue after it was in its place, he was much struck with a light grey vein in the marble, which he said he had not noticed before, corresponding in its position on the hand, to one of the veins on the back of the human hand. This little accident he said was worth the whole of the statue.

On the 14th May, Mr. Bastard writes, I wrote to you in haste yesterday, being anxious to tell you of my last visit to Chantrey with respect to the bust he is more than ever pleased with it ; he has been so much abused by his friends, and particularly those who are artists, for not having sent it to the exhibition."


Mr. J. Brooking Rowe in his Ecclesiastical History of Old Plymouth, has with much care and judgment, extracted from the well kept volumes of accounts of St. Andrew's Church, all that is most important in them.

From this book I have selected those items, which are of interest, that occur during the time of Mr. Mudge's Incumbency. First as to the bells. "In 1709, Colonel Jory presented the Church with a peal of six new bells. In 1733, there is a charge paid Mr. John Pennington for casting the fifth bell, as per agreement, £\\ 16s. Towards the cost of this bell £54 i8s. 6d. was collected from the
parishioners. Recasting a bell ought not to have cost this sum. Colonel Jory's peal was a heavy one, and in 1749 in consequence of the tenor having been cracked, it was cast into a peal of eight, the cost being defrayed by voluntary contributions. Of these bells the seventh and tenor fell while in full swing in 1752, doing a great deal of damage to the belfry and Church, falling through all the floors of the tower. I do not find that any of the ringers were injured ; but the necessary repairs amounted to a considerable sum. With the exception of the tenor, and new first and second, the bells now in the tower are those cast in 1749 by Thomas Bilbie, and his name and initials are on all except
the fifth.

The sixth and seventh give us the information

Thomas Bilbie cast us all,
Thomas Bilbie cast all wee.

Bilbie's Tenor cracked in December 1839 and was recast by Messrs. Mears in 1840." It bore the following- inscription :

"Ego sum vox clamantis Parate. Zach. Mudge, Vic. Georg. Marshall, Rich. Hicks, Eccles. Guard; Conflabat Stipe Publice Collata Tho. Bilbie 1749.''

A tablet in St. Andrew's Church states that the clock in the tower of this Church was made by Mr. Thomas Mudge of London 1706. This is evidently wrong. Thomas Mudge was not born till 1717, and ''I do not think he did any work except for private individuals and the trade, until he entered into partnership with William Button in 1750.


Under any circumstances the St. Andrew's clock could not have been made until after 1736, at which time Thomas Mudge finished his apprenticeship with Mr. Graham. Of course there may be a question as to whether it was made by Mudge or not; but Mr. Jeffery, who has now the charge of the clock, says that the workmanship is very excellent, and he has no doubt but that it is rightly ascribed to Mudge. If so it must have been made at least thirty years later than the date mentioned on the tablet —
I736."

The first account we have of an organ in St. Andrew's is in 1735, three years after Mr. Mudge's appointment to the Church, when one built by James Parsons was opened on the 7th of December in that year.  The choir or singing men, as they are called, of Exeter Cathedral attended on the occasion, and the Vicar, Mr. Mudge, preached.

In 1748 James Parsons cleaned it, charging 8s. for the work, and in 1749 the subscriptions for the organist's salary fell off, and the Vicar made up the required sum. This was repeated several years; but at last the salary of £14 is regularly entered by the Churchwardens in their accounts, and it was increased by an endowment, and an annual payment from the town. The organ renovated and improved remains still in the Church.

In 1737 Samuel Addis bequeathed £400, the interest of which was to be applied towards the salary of the organist.

In 1737-38 there is reference made in the Church- wardens books to chorister boys.

In the Churchwardens accounts, there are during Mr. Mudge's incumbency one or two curious entries, which are worth transcribing.

On the Nature of Divine Worship, No. 8 in the volume of Sermons. in 1740-41 the accounts were kept with particular neatness and enquiries appear to have been made with some care in order to ascertain the actual income of the Church. The Churchwarden was probably John Facey, linen-draper and alderman, whose portrait is in the Athenaeum, Plymouth. His comments on some of the charges made by the sexton, Samuel Rhodes, are amusing. He objects to some items, and gives the reason. The sexton charges 4s. 6d. for a flasket to carry the plate in.

Mr. Facey remarks that John Jenkin offered to sell him one for 2 s. 6d.
"For three bottles of oyle at is. 4d. each, which he could not buy under  1S. yd. each, and therefore I presume there was none used, 4s." Rhodes took care not to make this mistake in subsequent years; the charge in after years is always higher.

" For two hair brushes, for each of which he could not pay above 1s. 8d. and charges 4s.

" For a dozen brooms for which he did not pay above gd. or lod, is. is charged.

"1745. — N. B. — The green velvet cloth, with fringe much worn, was stolen from the communion table the evening that Lieut. Woolley was buried, being the 27th day of February, 1745. Cash paid for crying the green velvet communion table cloth stole from the table, 6d." Happily it was afterwards recovered.

"1749. To a large umbrella for ye use of ye ministers at burial, £1 1 6s." This seems a large price.

''1751. Fees to Bishop's Court for getting off the presentment of not having a hood, 12s. 3d. This doubtless refers to Mr. Mudge not being a graduate of a University."

"1752. Occurs a payment for killing vermin. To two badgers, four hedgehogs, 4d. each, and one fitch, 3s. 6d."






This chart portrays the linage from the de Vaux - Vaux - Fox