Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 07 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 07 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
The parish of Brington--written in Domesday Book “Brinintone,”
and also “Brintone,” in modern pronunciation _Brighton_--is
between seven and eight miles from the town of Northampton, not
far from the centre of England. It contains about 2,210 acres, of
which about 1,490 belong to Earl Spencer, and about 326 to the
rector in right of his church. The soil is chiefly dark-colored
loam, with a small tract of clay towards the north. Nearly four
fifths of the whole is pasture.
In the village still stands the house said to have been occupied
by the Washingtons when the emigrant brother left them. You will
see a vignette of it on the title-page of the recent English work
entitled “The Washingtons.” Over the door are carved the words,
THE LORD GEVETH, THE LORD TAKETH AWAY, BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE
LORD; while the Parish Register gives pathetic commentary, by
showing that in the very year when this house was built a child
was born and another died in this family.
The church, originally dedicated to the Virgin, stands at the
northeast angle of the village, and consists of an embattled
tower with five bells, nave, north and south aisles, chancel,
chapel, and modern porch. The tower is flanked by buttresses
of two stages. The present fabric goes back in origin to the
beginning of the fourteenth century, nearly two hundred years
before the discovery of America. The chancel and chapel, where
repose the Spencers and Lawrence Washington, were rebuilt by
Sir John Spencer, purchaser of the estate, at the beginning of
the sixteenth century. They afford a late specimen of Tudor
architecture. The church is beautifully situated on the highest
ground of Brington, and is surrounded by a stone wall lined with
trees. Dibdin says that a more complete picture of a country
churchyard is rarely seen. A well-trimmed walk encircles the
whole of the interior, while the fine Gothic windows at the end
of the chancel fill the scene with picturesque beauty.
The Parish Register, which is still preserved, commences in 1560.
From this it appears that William Proctor was rector from 1601 to
1627, partly contemporary with the last Washingtons there. Other
entries occur, relating to this family.
1616. “Mr. Lawrance Washington was buried the XVth day of
December.”
1620. “Mr. Philip Curtis and M^{is} Amy Washington were maried
August 8.”
1622. “Mr. Robert Washington was buried March y^{e} 11th.”
----. “M^{rs.} Elisabeth Washington widow was buried March y^{e}
20th.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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