Page:Eight Friends of the Great - WP Courtney.djvu/26

 6 in defence of Christianity." Berkeley became acquainted with him about 1721 and in 1725 received from him the munificent sum of £100 in support of his charitable works at Bermuda. His interest in the American colonies was further shown by his acting as a clerical trustee for the establishment of the colony of Georgia.

There are several competitors for the distinction of having been the first person to detect the beauties of James Thomson's poem of "Winter," and Rundle is one of them. After its publication, he recommended the poet to the patronage of Charles Talbot, who rose to the position of lord chancellor and through his influence Thomson went in 1730-1 on the continent as "bear-leader" to the chancellor's eldest son, Charles Richard Talbot. The young man died in September 1733 and Thomson opened the first part of his poem "Liberty 1735" with some lines in his praise. Thomson, in the poem which he printed in June 1737 on the chancellor, apostrophised Rundle as "thou darling friend! thou brother of his soul!" and as straying "on the pebbled shore, pensive" near Derry, driven from his "native sunshine" and his friends "the sunshine of the soul, by slanderous zeal and politics infirm." Thomson on Rundle's suggestion began a play on the story of Socrates but was dissuaded by three of his friends, Pitt, Lyttelton and Gilbert West, from continuing it.

Talbot's enormous income as bishop of Durham never sufficed for his profuse expenditure. To play the part of prince-bishop was congenial to him and he enjoyed appearing on horseback at all the reviews which the King attended. His domestic chaplain Rundle partook of his lavishness; he was throughout life fond of the pleasures of the table, and his "cheesecake" parties gradually expanded into more profuse entertainments. Though he took no pleasure in "the murders and assassinations of innocent hares and rabbits"