The Life and Times of John Wilkins
WARDEN WILKINS.
The Life and Times
of John Wilkins
Warden of Wadham College, Oxford;
Master of Trinity College, Cambridge;
and Bishop of Chester
BY
P. A. WRIGHT HENDERSON
WARDEN OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD
William Blackwood and Sons
Edinburgh and London
1910
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DEDICATED TO
THE MEMBERS OF WADHAM COLLEGE.
PREFACE.
This little book is written as an offering to the Members of WadhamCollege for the Tercentenary of its foundation. The writer makes nopretensions to learning or research: the title of the book would bemisleading and ridiculous if taken to imply a profound study of thetimes of Bishop Wilkins, from his birth in 1614 to his death in 1672,the most important, perhaps, certainly the most interesting, in thehistory of Great Britain. It has been attempted only to touch on thegreat questions and events which shaped the life and character of aremarkable man. Use has been made freely and often, without dueacknowledgment, of the 'History of Wadham College,' written by Mr T. G.Jackson, R.A., one of its Honorary Fellows and distinguished alumni; ahistory of the building and architecture of the College, which no onebut he could have written,—a history also of its social and academicallife from its beginning to the present day.
Nor has less use been made of Mr J. Wells' History of the College, ofwhich he is a Fellow. He will, I am sure, pardon my impertinence insaying that in his book are combined diligent research and a sense ofhumour and of the picturesque, excellences rarely found together inhistorians. Mr R. B. Gardiner, formerly Scholar of Wadham, has earnedits gratitude by his invaluable 'Registers of Admissions,' which, it isto be hoped, he will bring down to 1910 or later: they will make easythe work of some member of the College, who will doubtless arise towrite a magnum opus, the history of the College in everyaspect—architectural, social, and academical.
For it the writer will use, as I have done[Pg ix] for this little book, thenotes and comments of Mr Andrew Clark on Wood's 'Life and Times,' andother volumes published by the Oxford Historical Society.
My thanks are due also to Dr Butler, the Master of Trinity, Cambridge,for his kindness in telling me what little there is to tell of Wilkins'short tenure of the Mastership.
The Bishop of Chester, Dr Jayne, formerly a Scholar of Wadham, nowBishop of the Diocese which Wilkins held, has helped me with informationabout the short episcopate of his predecessor. For it I am grateful tohim, as well for the suggestion or command which led to my firstattempt, made four years ago, to write something about Wilkins.
The too short article in the 'Dictionary of National Biography' has beenof much service: it gives the bibliography of the subject, or anequivalent, for no life of Wilkins has been written till now, andindicates the sources of information about him: it also puts in clearorder the events of his varied life. Mr Sanders[Pg x] must know much which heshould be gently forced to tell.
Fain would I acknowledge to Wood and Aubrey the debt I owe to them,especially to Wood, and ask his par