The Book of Trinity College Dublin 1591-1891Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
History
The Book of Trinity College Dublin 1591-1891
Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
The experiment was
baulked at the outset by the unfortunate appointment of Chappel as
Provost, a famous logician, but a weak and not very honest man,[40]
whose conduct was about to be impeached by the Irish Parliament,
when the Rebellion of 1641 burst upon the land. Chappel was then
Bishop of Cork, but had refused to resign the Provostship. Ten
years of misery supervened, when Chappel and the next Provost,
Wassington, fled home to England, when Faithful Tate and Dudley
Loftus strove as vice-regents to hold together the affairs of the
starving College; when the estates were in the rebels’ hands,
the valuable plate was pawned or melted, Provost Martin dying
of the plague which followed upon massacre and starvation:[41]
the intellectual heart of Ireland suffered with its members, and
responded to the agonies of the loyal population with sufferings
not less poignant.
Nevertheless, the appointment of the Lord Deputy, Ormonde (a great
benefactor to the College at the worst moment), as Chancellor is
dated the 12th March, 1644. He was chosen to succeed Laud. The
actual deed is now at Kilkenny Castle.[42] The appointment of the
Chancellor was made by the Provost (Anthony Martin, Bishop of
Meath) and a majority of the Senior Fellows. Ormonde came back with
the Restoration, and in high favour.
The horror of civil war in England was added to make the cup
flow over. Charles, Laud, and Ussher were too engrossed with
their own troubles to promote the regeneration of the College
which they had commenced, and so we find that this decennium
of anarchy was only ended by the strong hand of Cromwell, who
undertook to establish order in Ireland. The “crowd of Geneva”
were accordingly established in the College; but justice must
admit that Henry Cromwell as Chancellor, and Winter as Provost,
behaved with good sense and zeal in promoting the interests of
learning. They, of course, pressed home their doctrines upon the
students; Winter called to the College zealous controversialists
of distinguished piety;[43] private Christian meetings among the
students were encouraged rather than official Chapels. Such of the
former officers as acquiesced in these things--the Vice-Chancellor
Henry Jones, who dropped his title of Bishop, and Stearne the
physician--were continued for the sake of their learning. The care
of outward neatness appears from the entries forbidding linen to
be dried in the courts; they had washed it there long enough. The
Provost undertook several journeys to the remote parts of Ireland,
to recover the abandoned properties and collect the rents of the
College. To the Commonwealth, moreover, is due the foundation
(1652) of the School of Mathematics, which has since become so
famous. This initial step was advanced by the bequest of Lord
Donegal (1660), whose Lecturership is still known by his name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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