The
country for above two months without the master's leave, and during
such absence shall be allowed but two-thirds of his commons in money
besides his salary; and if a brother go out and is arrested he shall
have no allowance during his absence, but his place to be reserved
till the governors' pleasure be known.
No brother to pass the gates of the hospital in his livery gown, or
to lie out of the house, or solicit causes, or molest any of the
King's subjects, under a certain pecuniary pain; and all other
duties, such as frequenting chapel, decent clothing and behaviour,
to be regulated by the governors.
This munificent benefactor also founded a grammar school in the
Charter House, to consist of a master, usher, and forty scholars.
No scholars to be admitted at above fourteen or under ten years of
age.
The scholars are habited in black gowns, and when any of them are
fit for the university, and are elected, each of them receives 20
pounds per annum for eight years out of the revenues of the house.
And such boys who are found more fit for trades are bound out, and a
considerable sum of money given with them.
When any of the forty boys are disposed of, or any of the old men
die, others are placed in their rooms by the governors in their
turns.
The master is to be an unmarried man, aged about forty; one that
hath no preferment in Church or State which may draw him from his
residence and care of the hospital.
The preacher must be a Master of Arts, of seven years' standing in
one of the universities of England, and one who has preached four
years.
The governors meet in December, to take the year's accounts, view
the state of the hospital, and to determine other affairs; and again
in June or July, to dispose of the scholars to the university or
trades, make elections, &c. And a committee of five at the least is
appointed at the assembly in December yearly, to visit the school
between Easter and Midsummer, &c.
The buildings of the Charter House take up a great deal of ground,
and are commodious enough, but have no great share of beauty. This
house has pretty much the air of a college or monastery, of which
the principal rooms are the chapel and the hall; and the old men who
are members of the society have their several cells, as the monks
have in Portugal.
The chapel is built of brick and boulder, and is about sixty-three
feet in length, thirty-eight in breadth, and twenty-four in height.
Here Sir William Manny, founder of the Carthusian monastery, was
buried; and here was interred Mr. Sutton, the founder of the
hospital, whose monument is at the north-east angle of the chapel,
being of black and white marble, adorned with four columns, with
pedestals and entablature of the Corinthian order, between which
lies his effigy at length in a fur gown, his face upwards and the
palms of his hands joined over his breast; and on the tomb is the
following inscription:-
"Sacred to the glory of God, in grateful memory of Thomas Sutton,
Esq. Here lieth buried the body of Thomas Sutton, late of Castle
Camps, in the County of Cambridge, Esq., at whose only cost and
charges this Hospital was founded and endowed with large
possessions, for the relief of poor men and children. He was a
gentleman born at Knayth, in the County of Lincoln, of worthy and
honest parentage. He lived to the age of seventy-nine years, and
deceased the 12th day of December, 1611."
The Charter House gardens are exceeding pleasant, and of a very
great extent, considering they stand so far within this great town.
I shall, in the next place, survey the free schools and charity
schools.
Anciently I have read that there were three principal churches in
London that had each of them a famous school belonging to it; and
these three churches are supposed to be - (1) The Cathedral Church of
St. Paul, because, at a general council holden at Rome, anno 1176,
it was decreed, "That every cathedral church should have its
schoolmaster, to teach poor scholars and others as had been
accustomed, and that no man should take any reward for licence to
teach." (2) The Abbey Church of St Peter at Westminster; for of the
school here Ingulphus, Abbot of Croyland, in the reign of William
the Conqueror, writes as follows: "I, Ingulphus, a humble servant
of God, born of English parents, in the most beautiful city of
London, for attaining to learning was first put to Westminster, and
after to study at Oxford," &c. (3) The Abbey Church of St. Saviour,
at Bermondsey, in Southwark; for this is supposed to be the most
ancient and most considerable monastery about the city at that time,
next to that of St. Peter at Westminster, though there is no doubt
but the convents of St. John by Clerkenwell, St. Bartholomew in
Smithfield, St. Mary Overy in Southwark, that of the Holy Trinity by
Aldgate, and other monasteries about the city, had their respective
schools, though not in such reputation as the three first. Of these
none are now existing but St. Paul's and Westminster, though perhaps
on different and later foundations. Yet other schools have been
erected in this metropolis from time to time, amongst which I find
that called Merchant Taylors' to be the most considerable.
St. Paul's School is situated on the east side of St. Paul's
Churchyard, being a handsome fabric built with brick and stone,
founded by John Collet, D.D. and Dean of St. Paul's, anno 1512, who
appointed a high-master, sur-master, a chaplain or under-master, and
153 scholars, to be taught by them gratis, of any nation or country.
He also left some exhibitions to such scholars as are sent to the
universities and have continued at this school three years.
