Archbishop of Canterbury - KU ScholarWorks - The University of ...

108 The Autobiography of Archbishop Thomas Seeker
Frederick and afterwards preceptor to the future George III. A man of
original mind, he "suffered at Oxford as a Whig and Hoadleian, from
his College there, where he was refused a fellowship, but on appeal to
Bishop Willis (the Visitor) was admitted. . . . Bishop Potter used him ill
afterwards in his exercise for his Doctor's degree. . . . He fell by the
death of the Prince of Wales from a thousand a year in hand & the
greatest expectancies, to the income of a country living" [E. Pyle,
Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain 1729-63, ed. by Alfred Hartshorne (London,
1905), letter lxxxvii, 25 December 1756.] George II regarded him as a
"very bad man," who "taught children bad things" ["Leicester House
Politics, 1750-60," ed. by Aubrey Newman in Camden Miscellany XXIII
(London, 1969), p. 208]. His reward finally came in 1761 when he was
made dean of Bristol.
the King was abroad: George II was in Hanover from 7 May to 20
October, 1741.
Mr Bonney: Thomas Bonney, who graduated B.A. from Magdalen
college, Oxford, in 1733 and M.A. in 1738, and was chaplain to Lord
King, baron of Ockham. He was dispensed to hold Ockham, Surrey,
with St. Andrew Undershaft on 12 May, 1762 (L.P.L. MS Canterbury
Act Book X, fol. 32). When he came to St. James's, he was "very
acceptable to the parish" (Egmont Diary II, p. 467, 18 February 1737/8)
but this did not last.
I will arise & go to my Father: this portion of scripture (Luke
15:18-19) was one of those sentences appointed to be read by the
minister at the beginning of Morning Prayer.
the 5th Commandment: rumor had made an even better story of the
original by having Seeker preach on "Honour thy father and thy
mother" before the Prince of Wales.
The Lord is good to all: the text was probably taken from Psalm 145:9,
although there are numerous citations of the simpler phraseology, "The
Lord is good."
FOLIO 31 (1741-42)
Bishop of Bristol: Butler, who was nominated 19 October and consecrated
3 December 1738, was another whose appointment was helped by
the Talbot influence and the earlier recommendation of Queen Caroline.