[from Proc IoMNH&ASoc vol 4 #2 1936]

"THE BISHOP OF THE MANX BIBLE."

By P. W. Caine.

Next to the great Thomas Wilson, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, who has left the deepest impression upon the national consciousness, is, beyond all question, Mark Hildesley. His is the solid achievement of having given to the Manx people the Bible in their native language; the tradition of him survives, too, as a man of amiability, earnestness and piety, and like his. illustrious predecessor, he rests in Manx earth.

The official memoirs of Bishop Hildesley were written by the Rev. Weeden Butler, in 1799. As late at 1933 another biography appeared; it forms a chapter in the book called "Hitchin Worthies," the work of Mr Reginald Hine, F.S.A., Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Before coming to the Isle of Man. Hildesley was for twenty-five years Vicar of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, of which town Mr Hine has made himself an admirable chronicler. Another source of information which is drawn upon very largely for the present paper is a reprint of the letters written by Hildesley to the Rev Philip Moore, and published by the late Mr A. W. Moore, in the "Manx Sun," during the editorship of Mr William Cubbon, now Director of the Manx Museum. ,

It is my intention to speak of the Bishop rather than of the Bible, but members may be glad to have their memories refreshed upon the two subjects in association. When Bishop Hildesley came to the Island, in 1755, there was no means by which the Manx people could read the Bible in the only language which the vast majority of them understood, and very inadequate means by which they could even hear it. The minister facing a Manx congregation looked at the English copy of the Bible or the Book of Common Prayer, and translated it offhand. "And what sort of Scripture!" exclaims the Bishop in a letter to Philip Moore; "for as to the word of God which some young readers dispense, I leave you to conceive, who know more of the matter than I do." "The ancient church of the diocese of Mann," said some anonymous friend who interested himself in the Bishop's design, "is probably the only Christian church in the world which is absolutely destitute of a printed copy of the Holy Scripture in the vulgar tongue." And Philip Moore, in an address' to the British public which was circulated in 1769, remarks, "We celebrate the charity ... of those benevolent minds who... procure the Scriptures and other good books to be printed in the Malabarick and other Asiatick tongues, for the instruction of nation most remote and different from our own; whilst a very ancient Christian community, at home, and of the established church, has never hitherto had the Scriptures in their native aboriginal Language."

So, Bishop Hildesley, besides teaching himself the Manx for some portions as least of the Church's liturgy, set about to procure means of having the Bible, the Common Prayer, a Catechism, and other good works printed in Manx. In this he was following the example of his great predecessor, Bishop Wilson, who, while in Castle Rushen prison, together with his Vicar-general Walker, had concerted a similar plan, and had before his death got as far as a translation of the Gospels and the Acts, and the printing of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Mr Hine felicitously remarks that "surely it was a happy augury that God should have sent Mark, Sodor and Man, to continue the good work by printing the Gospel in his own name!" In 1762 the Bishop visited the Archbishop of York, Dr. Drummond, and sought his interest in the subject, and also in another subject dear to the Bishop's heart, the enlarging of the parish churches in the Island, which were so insufficient for the needs of a devout people that "scarce a month passes without someone or another being carried out sick or fainting." From the Archbishops he went to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and secured from them financial support which continued to be most generously given for upwards of twenty years. The problem also had to be tackled of getting the Bible translated, and this was done by apportioning the various books among the Manx clergy, the whole being revised, mainly by Philip Moore and a youth named John Kelly, who afterwards became an LL..D. and author of a Manx dictionary.

It has sometimes been said that the Manx Bible is no second-hand translation from the English Version, but was done direct from the original tongues. This would mean that about twenty- five Manx parish priests and their assistants found the time and had the qualification to turn Hebrew and Greek into Manx, which — allowing for good results in scholarship produced by the grammar schools at Castletown and Douglas — would seem on the face of it improbable. What did happen, as Philip Moore says, is that those responsible "had recourse to every assistance we could get, from all the various translations, commentaries, annotators, - and criticks, ancient and modern, living and dead, that we could lay our hands on." Philip Moore himself, who was a brilliant scholar, had conversations and correspondence with some of the most eminent students of the day. The consequence was that the Manx Bible did indeed surpass the English, as to accuracy (saying nothing about beauty), because it embodied the conclusions of Biblical scholarship up to 1772.

But it is by Bishop Hildesley's letters that we know what manner of man he was, and take him to our hearts. He was an intensely sociable man; to use one of his own phrases, he loved. to "split an hour" with a kindred spirit, and when he could not speak with a friend he wrote — wrote copiously, garrulously. In one of niney-two epistles to Philip Moore he defends length in letter writing.

"The longest letters, of upwards of twenty pages (for such. I have by me from my English correspondents), do not take up more than a quarter of an hour's reading; and, however, apologises for a personal chat that takes up more than an hour!"

Hildesley's correspondents included many famous men of his time — Archbishop: Secker of Canterbury, the novelist Samuel Richardson, the hymn-writer and divine Philip Doddridge, Toplady of the hymn " Rock of Ages," John Byron of "Christians Awake," Edward Young of "Night Thoughts," but his favourites were Philip Moore and a London. physician named Messenger Monsey. While in the Isle of Man he wrote partly to relieve his loneliness, for, despite his devotion to the Manx people, he could not but regard his isolated existence as an exile. He loved the newspapers, and in the Isle of Man he could only get them after they had gone through half a dozen hands. The people of education living in the Island, perhaps through shyness, would not accept him as an intimate; the roads of the Isle of Man were most rudimentary, making a. journey on horseback, or very rarely in carriages, an under- taking to be weighed very seriously, and generally the household at Bishopscourt had very few visitors. He signs himself playfully as "your alien" or "your exotic friend," and says in one passage: " Though we are within sight of the three kingdoms. of His Majesty of Britain, I believe we often know less of what happens in either than some people do in America." Also, he describes the way across the mountains from Douglas to Michael as "crossing the Alps" or "crossing the Pyrenees." So, though postage was very expensive, and a postal service within the Island itself unknown — the Bishop's letters being despatched by whoever was going into Douglas or Ramsey at the time — he was obliged to pour out his soul on paper. A very cheerful, gracious soul it was; yes, that of a father in God. His letters to Philip: Moore, who was only seven years younger than himself, and at the time the correspondence started was 55 years old, are essentially paternal; scarcely less are those of Dr. Monsey, who mixed in London's most fashionable society and knew a great deal more of the world than did his mentor. Hildesley had a vein of very simple, gentle humour; his biographer Butler chooses for it the epithet "festively serious." The Bishop thus good humouredly describes his own weakness: "Like some good gossip, who: when she is going and can't stay, talks half-an-hour with the door in her hand, here I am still." T. E. Brown, who had been lent these letters (and others) by Arthur Moore, found them a source of rare delight.

Part of Brown's delight was caused by the colouring. Matters of postage and carriage of goods. The whole life of the time." " Matters of postage" are illustrated by such passages as these:—

"I should be tempted to be most angry with you for sending my packets of importance to Whitehaven via Maryport. I should have thought it better, if anyone was going thither, that he had had it by Dumfries or Carlisle, because from thence there are settled posts to all parts; but I never heard of one at Maryport. If you knew the man, as I suppose you did, whom you committed them to, I shall suppose they were safe, if the vessel got well in; so I'll hope the best, and venture another packet to your care."

Lhe word "packet" is significant. The Bishop had a system of lettering all his postal packets, so that he might learn from the addressees afterwards whether they had got, shall one say, L, M, N and O. A packet seems sometimes to have contained letters for several persons entrusted to the care of one. To continue with the quotation:—

"By seeing the wind come about to the S.W. to-day, I have reason to fear that if any boats were here, bound for Whitehaven, they are gone; and I have lost the opportunity I might have had, if my packet had gone for Douglass on Saturday, when several people went from this neighbourhood, which I was unfortunate in not being able to get intelligence of. However, my letters must now take their more distant chance for Liverpool or Whitehaven, as it shall happen."

"I am obliged to Mr Postmaster of Douglass for the orders he has been pleased to transmit to me, through your hands. It will avail but little to say, I don't like them. We could before send half-a-dozen or more letters in a packet for the same we are now to pay for one. And unless British Parliament franks are allowed to pass here, I can never hear from or answer the Archbishops, but it will, going and coming, cost 6d. The next article we are to hear, I suppose, will be a penalty on any boat but the pacquet carrying letters. And then I think I shall bid fair for saying 'Actum est de Epistolis'-—['All is done with letters']—with M.S.M. Unless he'll be content to pay insuffer- ably dear for the pleasure of his correspondence."

The next letter tells of Mr Birket, Philip Moore's nephew by marriage, bringing seven letters post free. And one of the severest reproaches administered by the Bishop to Philip Moore arises out of Moore's having absentmindedly opened a letter not intended for him, and then, instead of replacing it in the packet in which it had been sent with others, sending it separately and leaving the recipient to pay a postal charge of a shilling.

A "frank," by the way, was a privilege enjoyed by members of Parliament of having their letters, and the letters of persons to whom they good-naturedly passed on their privilege, carried without fee. So one was taught at school. And it is interesting to observe a footnote written by the biographer Butler, that the Bishop of Sodor and Man, though possibly entitled to a courtesy seat in the House of Lords, was not considered a mem- ber of Parliament, and therefore had not the privilege of having his letters franked. .

A kindred subject is the receipt of newspapers. Again the letters are eloquent:—

"I have a parcel of papers from the Governor, which though very stale, are all news to me, having not seen a paper for a long season."'

"I am obliged to Mr Black for his readiness to admit me into partnership with respect to news trade. I have only to say, that I am content, and heartily approve of the town pro- prietors having the first perusal. But if the papers are lent about to sundry other hands, when is poor Sodor to be supplied?" |

Mark Hildesley had scarcely received the episcopal honour before he discovered that, though he who desireth a bishopric may, as the Scripture says, desire a good thing, he was expected in England to pay a heavy "footing" for being admitted to obtain that good thing. His expences, fees, and other charges attendant and consequent upon my taking the bishoprick of Sodor and Mann" amounted to the almost incredible sum of £928 7s. 74d.

Deducting the £123 he spent in travelling from Hitchin to Kirk Michael, the £255 he expended in new household goods, and the £245 with which he purchased from Bishop Wilson's estate the stock and grain for Bishopscourt farms, and granted that part of his "expences" in a journey to London went into the hands of a gentleman whom he jocularly terms the "road collector," who relieved him of £4 14s. 6d. in cash and a watch which cost him nine guineas—granted all this, the initial costs of being made a bishop must have taken a good deal of guilt off the gingerbread. Bishop Ward, writing 73 years later, exclaims, "O the cormorants of Courts of Law and Courts of Kings! Everyone has a pull at the poor Bishop. To kiss the King's hand will cost me £100. Bishop Barrow, it is said in Butler's volume, was permitted to hold the see "in commendam" — i.e., together with that of St. Asaph — for two and a half years, in order to indemnify him for the expenses of his translation. Holding offices "in commendam" did not please the scrupulous soul of Bishop Hildesley, who as a young man had — following the example of Bishop Wilson — refused an offer to hold a living until someone then a minor should be ready to receive it. His circumstances would not permit the scruple, however, and he continued to be rector of one: of his former Hertfordshire parishes for twelve years after his translation, relinquishing it when a more convenient and. eligible second charge was offered him — namely, the mastership of Sherburn hospital or almshouse, near Durham.

Bishop Hildesley was an eye-witness of the celebrated sea battle off the north-west coast of Man between the French privateer Francois Thurot and an English naval detachment. under the command of Captain John Elliott, fought on the 28th February, 1760. He has left a very precise and spirited account. of the battle, adding quizzically that "another escape, equal to the first, must not be forgotten" — namely, that the victorious English captain wished to leave twelve hundred prisoners behind him in the Isle of Man, which, if the Governor had not dissuaded him, would have resulted in the prisoners overpowering the inhabitants and taking possession of the Island. What would have happened in that event is indicated in a remark in a letter to Dr. Monsey, that "I should have had a fair chance to have addressed my English friends from thence [France], for a contribution towards my ransom." It actually did happen to the chaplain of a subsequent bishop, in 1780, when the American privateer Paul Jones swooped down on the Island and carried off booty and prisoners. The Bishop. visited Commodore Elliott and the other captains at Ramsey, and invited them to attend a thanksgiving service at Ramsey chapel; he also procured the bowsprit of Thurot's ship, which Was washed ashore, and had it set in his garden, on a mound which he christened "Mount Aeolus," after the ship commanded by Elliott. The letter to Monsey, telling him of Thurot, begins: "I hear you ask how I like the musick that was lately played off behind my house, and whether we did not expect the performers to call upon us for a boon?"

The initial step in the founding of St. George's Church was taken after a sermon preached by, and a meeting of prospective subscribers presided over by Bishop Hildesley. Several passages in these letters show the Bishop's anxiety to make proper provisions for the needs of the worshippers in Douglas and elsewhere.

January 28, 1761. — "The detail you gave me of the necessities of Douglas-cum-Kk. Braddan, I am no stranger to; and God willing, all the means that can be used to provide for them, shall not be wanting on my part and endeavour to contrive."

September 30, 1762. — " When I went to England I must readily acknowledge the advancement of contributions to Douglass Chapel was in my view; but finding the prospect opening wider, I was glad to strike the nail that I found most capable of driving."

December 21, 1763.—" Indeed, my dear sir, the sight of that long suspended edifice, so zealously begun, for the honour of God, and the good of His church, so abashes and confounds me, that I know not well how to face my brother subscribers to that excellent and once-thought necessary work."

July 8, 1768. — "I would choose to be so just to myself as to say I have not deserved the remarkable shyness of your town flock towards me. Perhaps they don't choose to see me blush at the workmen's being unpaid for their labour at the chapel, of which I that voted against its size, am and have been long time ready and willing to pay my quota, and can't be permitted to do so because, it seems, the proportion is unsettled."

The last quotation certainly refers to St. George's; but the third, according to a footnote by Butler, has to do with the church of St. Mark's, to the building and endowment of which his lordship was a great benefactor. Mr Hine's parallel between apostle Mark and bishop Mark suggests the thought that the dedication of this little country chapel was a definite compliment to the episcopal donor. Bishop Hildesley was not averse to a play on his own name, for several times he ends a letter by saying he is scarce able to make his Mark. And by the same token, the bishop in whose reign St. George's was opened was George Mason. Another landmark to commemorate Bishop Hildesley is the Court House at Kirk Michael, which the parishioners, in a letter dated 1762, thanked him for having caused to be erected.

The unseasonableness of harvest thanksgiving was felt by Bishop Hildesley in 1766, as it has-been felt many a time since. "Although this is the most melancholy harvest, at least in this part, that has been remembered for upward of forty years, yet I find myself obliged to suffer fiddle and dancing in my barn, for what they call the 'mellow.' Such is the force of all-powerful custom that I believe, if the grain was all swimming down the river, it must be submitted to." Later in the same letter, having got his "packet" ready in case anyone should chance to be this way from Douglas, he fears that Saturday marketers will be scarce, "for everybody is busy, not in carrying, but in turning, their corn, lest it should be wet but on one side."

These letters reveal not only the character of Bishop Hildesley, but to some extent of Philip Moore. Scholar and wit as Moore was, and "in his noisy mansion skilled to rule," he seems to have been morbidly introspective and self-blaming, always afraid of having committed a solecism, of having deserved dis- pleasure. And in Philip Moore, like many another man, a satirical exterior hid a very emotional and sensitive nature. There is a series of deeply-moving letters in which he tells of the death of his wife, and in which the Bishop consoles him with infinite sweetness and wisdom. The Bishop had suffered the same blow five years earlier, and had expressed his own sorrow restrainedly, but very pathetically. And when the first shock is over, he endeavours to lead his friend's mind away from the one perpetual ache by telling him "sad impertinent stuff" about a horse and its seller, and reminds the mourner that this "trash" is "such as, sooner or later, human creatures must be content to hear and see."

This gift of frank, witty, graceful letter-writing appears to have been shared by the Bishop's sister Hester, who was his house-keeper from his wife's death until his own. Mr Butler includes one or two delightful epistles from her to Philip Moore after the Bishop has died, and she has gone to live in England.

"Let me certify to you, that I am as well as an old maiden can be, that is almost blind, deaf, and toothless. I follow you fast, threescore and fifteen within a few weeks; much at your service. I have never said so much to anyone yet. We have gone hand in hand together a good while; but you must give leave for ladies to go first. . . I do preserve all your old letters, as old gold, that posterity may see how near and dear we have been to each other. Since I left town last year, I was given over, with a fever, and then recovered amazingly. I am very thankful to Divine Goodness for granting me a few days, or weeks, or months longer; but the longest cannot now be long.. Shall I make a better use of the short time scared to me, than if it had pleased God to take me then? Pray God, that as I decrease in strength, I may increase in faith, to attain eternal life through Christ!"

One feels that the days of this good lady and of those to whom she was dear were "bound each to each by natural piety."

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received MNB Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2023