In consequence of this disappointment, Mr. Burton was obliged to take new ground, to enable him to procure an establishment in the world; and therefore artfully applied to the College for a testimonial, that he might receive orders, and undertake some cure in the vicinity of Cambridge. Being ordained, he turned the circumstance into a manœuvre, and took an unexpected advantage of it, by appealing to the Visitor [the Bishop of Ely, Dr. Thomas Greene], representing, that, as the College had, by the testimonial, thought him qualified for Ordination, it could not, in justice, deem him unworthy of becoming a Fellow of the Society, upon such forcible claims as Founder's kin, and also as a Native of Derbyshire. These were irresistible pleas on the part of Mr. Burton; and the Visitor found himself reluctantly obliged to eject Mr. Pegge; when Mr. Burton took possession of the Fellowship, which he held many years[8]. [8] Dr. Burton was President (_i. e._ Vice-master of the College) when Mr. Pegge's Son was admitted of it, 1751; but soon afterwards took the Rectory of Staplehurst in Kent, which he held till his death in 1759. Thus this business closed; but the Visitor did Mr. Pegge the favour to recommend him, in so particular a manner, to the Master and Seniors of the College, that he was thenceforward considered as an honorary member of the body of Fellows (_tanquam Socius_), kept his seat at their table and in the chapel, being placed in the situation of a Fellow-commoner. In consequence, then, of this testimony of the Bishop of Ely's approbation, Mr. Pegge was chosen a Platt-fellow on the first vacancy, A. D. 1729[9]. He was therefore, in fact, _twice_ a Fellow of St. John's. [9] The _Platt-fellowships_ at St. John's are similar to what are called _Bye-fellowships_ in some other Colleges at Cambridge, and are not on the Foundation. The original number was _six_, with a stipend of 20_l., per annum_ each, besides rooms, and commons at the Fellows' table. They were founded by William Platt, Esq. (Son of Sir Hugh Platt, Knt.) an opulent citizen of London, out of an estate then of the annual value of 140_l._ Being a rent-charge, the Fellowships cannot be enlarged in point of revenue, though the number has been increased to _eight_, by savings from the surplus. There is a good portrait of Mr. Platt in the Master's Lodge at St. John's, with the date of 1626, æt. 47. He died in 1637. More of him may be seen in Mr. Lysons's Environs of London, vol. III. pp. 59, 66, 70, 71, 110, 376. There is good reason to believe that, in the interval between his removal from his first Fellowship, and his acceding to the second, he meditated the publication of Xenophon's "_Cyropædia_" and "_Anabasis_," from a collation of them with a Duport MS. in the Library at Eton--to convince the world that the Master and Seniors of St. John's College did not judge unworthily in giving him so decided a preference to Mr. Burton in their election.