Castletown chapel, and was also chaplain to the governor, received Mrs. Horn to the communion, and was consequently suspended by the bishop, who authorised the Rev. Mr. Ross, Aca demical Professor, to supply his place. Horn had possession of the keys, refused to deliver them to Mr. Ross, and kept the chapel doors shut. This conduct gave occasion to the following letter from the bishop:

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Having just now received an account from the Rev. Mr. Ross, whom I appointed to officiate in Castletown chapel during the arch-deacon's suspension, that the doors of the said chapel are shut up, and that you have refused to deliver him the keys, whereby the people are deprived of the public worship of God; and the chapel of that town, which has ever been subjected to me and my predecessors, is endeavoured to be made independent. I do therefore complain against your said act as a fresh instance of your intrenching upon the episcopal authority, and which, if not speedily remedied, may open a gap for a much greater and more pernicious innovation."

The governor, however, conceiving that the bishop had acted illegally, fined him £50, and

his two vicars general £20 each, a most arbitrary act; and, on their refusing to pay these fines, committed them all, June 29, 1722, to Castle Rushen. Great disturbances ensued; but the people were restrained from offering violence to the governor by the bishop's exhortations from the castle walls. He told them he should "appeal unto Cæsar." After a confinement of nine weeks he was released on petitioning the King in council. The proceedings of the governor were reversed, as being illegal; and could the bishop have been persuaded to bring an action against him, it was supposed that the damages would have been extremely heavy.

The free-school of this town is formed of an old chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, and consecrated A. D. 1250. The institution was established by Dr. Barrow about the year 1670, for the purpose of supplying the church with ministers. The funds are lodged in eight trustees, and arose primarily from some tithes which were purchased of the Lord-proprietor with a sum of money, raised for that purpose by voluntary subscription. They have been since increased by a few donations and legacies. Four students are educated free of expense; and from the

time of their leaving school to their promotion they are allowed the annuity of, I believe, £25. The professor must be Master of Arts of one of the British universities, and is allowed the salary of sixty pounds.

The castle, called Castle Rushen, is worthy of inspection, and the stranger will find easy admission to the interior apartments.

It was considered the chief fortress of the island, and is now the only prison. According to the Manks' tradition, it was built about the year 960, by Guttred, grandson to a King of Denmark, and the second of a succession of twelve kings by them called Onys.

This building which is remarkably solid is said by Chaloner, Sacheverell, and other writers, to be reckoned a striking resemblance of the castle of Elsineur in Denmark. As this fortress has suffered several sieges, the repairs of the damages sustained must somewhat have altered its inferior parts.

The Manksmen, according to Waldron, had a strange tradition concerning this castle, which, as it may probably amuse the reader, is here transcribed in his own words:

"Just at the entrance of the castle is a great

stone chair for the governor, and two lesser for the deemsters. Here they try all causes except ecclesiastical, which are entirely under the decision of the bishop. When you have passed this little court, you enter a long winding passage between two walls, not much unlike what is described of Rosamond's labyrinth at Woodstock. In case of attack, ten thousand men in attempting to enter might be destroyed by a very few. The extremity of it brings you into a room where the Keys sit. They are twenty four in number: they call them the parliament; but in my opinion they more resemble our juries in England, because the object of their meeting is to adjust differences among the common people, and they are locked in till they have given their verdict. They may be said indeed to be supreme judges, because from them there is no appeal but to the lord himself.

of man.

"A little further is an apartment which has never been opened within the memory The persons belonging to the castle are very cautious in giving you any reason for it; but the natives, who are excessively superstitious, assign this, that there is something of enchantment in it. They tell you that the castle was

at first inhabited by fairies, and afterwards by giants, who continued in the possession of it till the days of Merlin, who, by the force of magic, dislodged the greatest part of them, and bound the rest in spells, indissoluble to the end of the world. In proof of this they tell you a very odd story: They say there are a great many fine apartments under ground, exceeding in magnificence any of the upper rooms; several men of more than ordinary courage have, in former times, ventured down to explore the secrets of this subterranean dwelling place, but none of them ever returned to give an account of what they saw; it was therefore judged expedient that all the passages to it should be continually shut, that no more might suffer by their temerity. But about some fifty or fifty-five years since, a person who had an uncommon boldness and resolution, never left soliciting permission of those who had power to grant it, to visit those dark abodes; in fine, he obtained his request, went down, and returned by the help of a clue of packthread which he took with him, which no man before himself had ever done, and brought this amazing discovery: "That after having pas sed through a great number of vaults, he came

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