Life of Bishop Bedell. By his Son. Now first edited,
by John E. B. Mayor. (Macmillan.)—This is one of the series of volumes generally described as "Cambridge in the Seventeenth Century." It has, however, little to do with Cambridge. Beyond the curious fact that William Bedell went to Emmanuel College in his eleventh year, we see nothing to note about Cambridge matters. Bedell did not long continue to reside at the University. After a brief period of work at Bury St. Edmund's, he went abroad as chaplain to Sir Henry Wootton, who had been sent as Ambassador to the Republic of Venice. Returning to England, he again went to Bury, and finally, after sundry other changes, was made suc- cessively Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. He had not been long settled in his bishopric when the great Irish rebellion of 1611 broke out. The Bishop's experience in this is the most interesting portion of the book. As the character of this re- bellion is now being diseuesed with considerable heat, it may be men- tioned, for what it is worth, that, though we hear of a good deal of insult and robbery on the part of the Irish, there is nothing said about massacre. Nor, it would Seem, were the Irish Catholics the only per- sons who laid their hands on what did not belong to them. Here is a very curious passage The Bishop's books went every way but the right ; and some of his sermons ware preached in Dublin, and heard there by some of Bishop Bedell's near relations that had formerly heard them from his own mouth; and some of the Episcopal order were not innocent in this case." The Bishop died of what was called the "Irish ague," which broke out among the crowded English fugitives.
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