Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/68

 and amerced in 4000l. for his delinquency. His epitaph fixes the time of his death to 1650.

We regarded with veneration the tomb of John Hough Bishop of Worcester, who died in 1743, at the advanced age of ninety-three, having filled the episcopal chair nearly fifty-three years. When the obstinate zeal of James II. prompted him to attempt the most violent measures for the introduction of Popery, he issued his mandate to the fellows of Magdalen college, Oxon, for the election of one Farmer, a catholic, to be their president. The society resisted the nomination, and elected Hough, urging Farmer's ineligibility according to the statutes; their choice was confirmed by the visitor, but disputed by th ecclesiastical commission, who deprived Hough, and suspended two of the fellows. This sentence was disregarded by the principals, and became a matter of party. The King, in order to avoid the question of Farmer's ineligibility, issued a new mandate in favour of Parker Bishop of Oxford: the electors remained firm, and declared the place full by the nomination of Hough. The King himself went to Oxford, and personally Reprimanded the fellows, threatening, that if further disobedient, "they should feel the weight of his hand." A new commission of victors was appointed, who entered the town with