suspension) £20 each. This fine they all refused to pay as an illegal demand, upon which the governor sent a party of soldiers, and on the 29th of June 1722, the bishop, Dr. Walker, and Mr. Curghay, were arrested and conveyed to the prison of Castle Rushin, where they were kept closely confined for nine weeks, no persons being admitted within the walls to see or converse with them.

An universal sentiment of indignation possessed the people, when they heard of the imprisonment of their pastor and friend. They assembled in crowds, and their first impulse was to pull down the house of the governor. Bishop Wilson was permitted to address them from the prison-walls, and he besought them to use violence to no man, at the same time assuring them that he meant to "appeal to Cæsar," meaning the king; and that he did not doubt that his majesty would give him redress, if he was unworthy of those bonds. With this the people were restrained from violence, but daily, during his imprisonment, they showed their affectionate sense of his goodness and kindness, by assembling in crowds round the walls which confined him and his brethren.

As a further means of pacifying and comforting the people, he sent a circular letter to his clergy, three days after his commitment, and directed it to be read publicly in the churches throughout the island. This letter was as follows:

"MY BRETHREN, — Though our persons are confined to this place, yet our affection for you, and our concern for the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made us overseers, and our prayers for both, are at full liberty. And we doubt not but our authority, in matters spiritual at least, will be obeyed by you and by all such as fear God, for our great Master's sake, who has promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the world.

"I desire therefore, and require of every one of you, that you make regular presentments to my registrar of all unquiet, disobedient, and criminous persons within your several parishes, that we may correct and punish them according to such authority as we have by God's word.

"I beg that you will be more than ordinarily diligent in discharging the several duties of your sacred calling; this will be the best testimony of your affection for us. And I beseech you, let no unworthy thoughts enter your hearts, nor unbecoming words come out of your mouths, against those that have given us this trouble.

"If we suffer for righteousness' sake, that is, for doing our duty, it will turn very much to our account. And if we have been mistaken in any thing, there are proper judges superior to us all, who will be able to clear up these difficulties, to the satisfaction of all good men and lovers of peace.

"And that none of your people may transgress the bounds of duty and obedience to the civil magistrate, (who is God's minister in temporal matters, as we are in spirituals,) and so come to suffer as evil doers, I pray you communicate this letter and my hearty desires to whom you shall think fit, that they may be convinced that neither they nor we have any reason to be uneasy at what has befallen us.

you

"And if to this afford us your daily prayers, which as your bishop I require, that we may both perceive and know what things we ought to do, and also have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; that this church may be always ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors, such as may constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for righteousness' sake;

you will then do what becomes worthy sons of a father and bishop, who every day of his life remembers you at the throne of grace. THO. SODOR And Man.”

"2nd Julii, 1722."

In the same spirit of submission to the will of God in chastening him, the following entry was found in his diary:

"St. Peter's Day, 1722. I and my two vicars-general were fined ninety pounds, and imprisoned in CastleRushin, for censuring and refusing to take off the censure of certain offenders: which punishment and contempt I desire to receive from God as a means of humbling me."

The bishop and his two friends, finding that there was no prospect of the governor's relenting, were advised to pay the fines, and then to appeal to the king in council; and accordingly, after a close confinement of two months, they were released on the 31st of August. The day of their liberation was a day of general joy. Old and young, rich and poor, assembled from all parts of the island, and formed such a procession as had never before been witnessed. The populace wished to spread their clothes under the bishop's feet, and when he refused to accept this demonstration of their regard, they strewed his path with flowers. The road leading from Castletown to Bishop's-court, for more than three miles was thronged with persons on foot and horseback; and, for want of better music, multitudes had provided themselves with pipes of elder-wood. A bonfire at Kirk-Michael added to these testimonies of love and joy.

His cause was fairly investigated and tried before the king in council, who, on the 4th of July, 1724, issued an order, declaring that the judgments or sentences given by the governor and his officers "be reversed and set aside, in regard they had no jurisdiction," and that the fines be returned.

This affair entailed upon bishop Wilson considerable personal injury. The comfortable habitations called prisons in England, are far different from the place of his confinement; it was a cold and damp cell; and he contracted then a disorder in his right hand, which deprived him of the free use of his fingers, in consequence of which he was obliged ever after, when he wrote, to grasp the pen with his whole hand.

The expense, also, incurred in bringing this case of oppression before the privy council, was seriously felt by the bishop; and though a considerable subscription was raised in England to defray it, yet still there remained heavy claims upon his small purse. His solicitor, indeed, advised him to prosecute the governor in the English courts of law, to recover compensation for his great expense; but to this he would not consent, declaring that having now established the discipline of the church, he felt no resentment for the personal injury he had undergone, but sincerely and fully forgave his persecutor.

During his confinement in Castle-Rushin, the magistrates, officially assembled, forwarded an address to the bishop and the other ecclesiastical judges, in which they paid this testimony to their merits on the only point on which bishop Wilson had ever been called in question. "As to the charge of exercising a spiritual tyranny, we do solemnly testify, (as we are in duty bound,) that there is no cause to us known for so strange an imputation; being verily persuaded that you have been so far from assuming to yourselves any undue authority, that the church was never better governed than in your time, nor justice more impartially administered in the ecclesiastical courts of this isle."

When this affair was concluded, the king offered him the bishopric of Exeter, which he declined to accept. His

majesty then promised to defray the expenses out of the privy purse, but, dying soon after, the promise was never fulfilled.

What became of archdeacon Horrobin is not mentioned by the biographers of bishop Wilson. We are only informed that he presented a petition to the bishop for the removal of his suspension; to which an answer was given, that it could only be done when he should acknowledge the legality of the sentence which had been passed upon him, and "promise for the future to avoid giving any occasion of disturbing the peace and unity of the church; and this with a sincerity becoming a christian, and in terms bespeaking a real conviction."

The affliction of their beloved friend and bishop appears to have softened and improved the hearts of the people. He always used to say, "that he never governed his diocese so well as when he was in prison; and, for his own share, if he could have borne the confinement consistently with his health, he would have been content to have abode there all his life for the good of his flock, who were then more pious and devout than at any other time."

It must be obvious to every reader, that the bishop of that diocese could not have acted otherwise in this case, consistently with the law. But it will also have been observed, that the bishop was really disposed to maintain a somewhat strict ecclesiastical discipline as a means of promoting purity in the church; and, therefore, in order that his character may not be misunderstood, we shall subjoin in a note to this chapter a few extracts from his writings, in which his sentiments on the subject are plainly set forth.