MATTHEW, the second Protestant archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Norwich in the year 1504, the 9th of Hen. VII. His father, who was a man in trade, died when our author was about twelve years old; but his mother took special care of his education, and at the age of 17 sent him to Corpus Christi college in Cambridge, where, in 1523, he took his bachelor's degree. In 1527 he was ordained, created master of arts, and chosen fellow of the college. Having obtained a licence to preach, he frequently held forth at St Paul's cross in London, and in other parts of the kingdom. In 1533 or 1534 he was made chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, who obtained for him the deanery of Stoke Clare in Suffolk, where he founded a grammar school. After the death of the queen, King Henry made him his own chaplain, and in 1541 prebendary of Ely. In 1544, he was, by the king's command, elected master of Corpus Christi college, and the following year vice chancellor of the university. In 1547 he left the deanery of Stoke, by the dissolution of that college. In the same year he married the daughter of Robert Harlentone, a Norfolk gentleman.

In the year 1552 he was nominated, by Edward VI., to the deanery of Lincoln, which, with his other preferments, enabled him to live in great affluence: but Mary had fearlessly succeeded to the throne before he was deprived of everything he held in the church, and was then obliged to live in obscurity, frequently changing his place of abode to avoid the fate of the other reformers.

Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558; and in the following year Dr Parker, from indigence and obscurity, was at once raised to the see of Canterbury; an honour which he neither solicited nor desired. In this high station he acted with spirit and propriety. He visited his cathedral and diocese in 1560, 1565, and 1573. He repaired and beautified his palace at Lambeth at a vast expense. The sum which the repairs of the palace and great hall at Canterbury cost him was upwards of 1400l. sterling, which is at least equal to ten times the sum now-a-days. Both the palace and great hall were in decay, partly through the injuries of time, and partly through that of fire. The hall, built by Archbishop Huber in the 12th century, was famous in history for the great feasts that had been given there by archbishops and abbots in former times; in particular, at the nuptial feasts of King Edward I. in 1290; at the installation of the abbot of St Austin's in 1309; at the enthronization of George Nevill, archbishop of York, in 1464; and of Archbishop Warham in 1504, when Edward duke of Buckingham acted as lord high steward of his household; and lastly, for the entertainment given by that archbishop in 1519 to the emperor Charles V. Henry VIII. Queen Catherine, &c. In 1565 Archbishop Parker gave three entertainments in this hall at Whituntide (which lasted three days), on Trinity Sunday, and in afeize time. At the two first of these the archbishop himself sat in the midst of the uppermost table; on his left hand the mayor, &c. and so on one side of the hall a continued row of men according to their rank filled the other tables; and on his right hand sat only some noble women and ladies of quality, the whole length of the hall, corresponding to the row of men on the other side: which order of placing the women was observed in honour of the queen. The first rank of guests having rif'en, and the tables cleared, they were furnished again, and filled the second time. At the last feast, which was grander than all the rest, the archbishop entertained the two judges who went that circuit (B), the attorney-general, the high-theriff, with all who met at these afeizes, as justices of the peace, advocates, and common lawyers, and all the rest of proctors and attorneys; who all (with a promiscuous company) in troops came in. The hall was set forth with much plate of silver and gold, adorned with much tapestry of Flanders; and dainties of all sorts were served in excellent order by none but the archbishop's servants, the table being often the same day furnished afresh with new guests; while the ladies were nobly entertained in inner parlours by Mrs Parker, the hall being now filled with gentlemen. Otherwife, at these feasts, it was the archbishop's custom, in honour of matrimony, to entertain both men and their wives. Of this noble hall and palace, now within 200 years, there is little or nothing left except a few ruins. On Whitsunday 1570, and the two following days, this archbishop feasted the citizens of Canterbury and their wives in the same manner as he had done before: and on Trinity Sunday (after consecrating Bishop Curtis of Chichester) he made another most archiepiscopal feast, inviting another archbishop (viz. Grindal of York, who came thither for confirmation) to be his guest: besides whom were present Horn bishop of Winchester, and Curtis bishop of Chichester. At the lower tables sat all the ministers and servants whatsoever, even the children, who belonged to that church; and at the remotest tables, but in the same hall, in fight, sat the poor of both sexes of the hospitals of St John's and Harbledown. On July 11th, being afeize time, the judges, high-theriff, gentlemen, and the common fort, were all feasted by the archbishop in a splendid manner as before. Soon after Bishop Sandys of Worcester, elect of London, came to Canterbury to be confirmed. The archbishop, on his return, lodged the first night at Sittingbourne, and the next night (after dining at Grave-

(b) This proves that the judges of afeize then came to Canterbury, though it was then a county in itself, being fo made in 1461. PARKER came to Lambeth in barges by Thames, with all his family. Sept. 7, 1573, being Q. Elizabeth's birthday, Archbishop Parker entertained her majesty, and as many noblemen, &c. as were present at Archbishop Warham's entertainment in the same hall 49 years before. The archbishop (to use his own words, in a letter to Archbishop Grindal of York) "met her highness, as he was coming to Dover, upon Folkestone Down. I left her at Dover, and came home to Bekeborn that night; and after that went to Canterbury to receive her majesty there. Which I did, with the bishops of Lincoln and Rochester, and my suffragan (of Dover), at the west door; where, after the grammarian had made his oration to her upon her horse-back, she alighted. We then kneeled down, and said the psalm Deus misereatur, in English, with certain other collects briefly; and that in our chimers and rochets. The quire, with the dean and prebendaries, stood on either side of the church, and brought her majesty up with a song; the going under a square canopy, borne by four of her temporal knights, to her traverse, placed by the communion board, where she heard evening song; and after departed to her lodging at St Austin's, whither I waited upon her. From thence I brought certain of the council, and divers of the court, to my house to supper, and gave them 14 or 15 dishes, furnished with two mefs, at my long table, whereat fat about 20; and in the fame chamber a third mefs, at a square table, whereat fat 10 or 12; my self half having three long tables furnished with my officers, and with the guard, and others of the court: and so her majesty came every Sunday to church to hear the sermon. And upon one Monday it pleased her highness to dine in my great hall, thoroughly furnished with the council, Frenchmen, ladies, gentlemen, and the mayor of the town, with his brethren, &c.; her highness sitting in the midst, having two French ambassadors (Gondius and Mothe-Fenelon) at the end of the table, and four ladies of honour at the other end. And so three mefs were served by her nobility at washing, her gentlemen and guard bringing her dishes, &c." On which the archbishop of York, in his answer, made this reflection: "Your grace's large description of the entertainment at Canterbury did so lively set forth the matter, that in reading thereof I almost thought myself to be one of your guests there, and as it were beholding the whole order of all things done there. Sir, I think it shall be hard for any of our coat to do the like for one hundred years, and how long after God knoweth." In this progress Lord Treasurer Burleigh was lodged with Mr Pearson, the eleventh prebendary, who, the archbishop says, "had a fine house."

He founded several scholarships in Bennet or Corpus-Christi college in Cambridge, and gave large presents of plate to that and to other colleges in this university. He gave 100 volumes to the public library. He likewise founded a free school at Rochdale in Lancashire. He took care to have the fees filled with pious and learned men; and, considering the great want of Bibles in many places, he, with the assistance of other learned men, improved the English translation, had it printed on a large paper, and dispersed through the kingdom. This worthy prelate died in the year 1575, aged 72, and was buried in his own chapel at Lambeth. He was pious without affectation or austerity, cheerful and contented in the midst of adversity, moderate in the height of power, and beneficent beyond example. He wrote several books; and also published four of our best historians, Matthew of Weymuster, Matthew Paris, Affer's Life of King Alfred, and Thos. Walfingham. The learned archbishop also translated the Psalter. This version was printed, but without a name; and has been attributed to an obscure poet of the name of Keeper. This was Wood's opinion; but it is more than probable that the learned author of the Athena Oxon. was wrong. See Gentleman's Magazine for 1781, p. 566, where Parker is proved to be the author of a version of the Psalms.