w to
take notice of the nephew, whom in boyhood and early youth he had left
to the unshared guardianship of his brother, and brother's son,
does not appear; but the personal history of this energetic
pluralist--Prebendary of Durham, Archdeacon of Cleveland, Canon
Residentiary, Precentor, Prebendary, and Archdeacon of York, Rector of
Rise, and Rector of Hornsey-cum-Riston--suggests the surmise that he
detected qualities in the young Cambridge graduate which would
make him useful. For Dr. Sterne was a typical specimen of the
Churchman-politician, in days when both components of the compound
word meant a good deal more than they do now. The Archdeacon was a
devoted Whig, a Hanoverian to the backbone; and he held it his duty
to support the Protestant succession, not only by the spiritual but by
the secular arm. He was a great electioneerer, as befitted times when
the claims of two rival dynasties virtually met upon the hustings, and
he took a prominent part in the great Yorkshire contest of the year
1734. His most vigorous display of energy, however, was made, as was
natural, in "the '45." The Whig Archdeacon, not then Archdeacon of
the East Riding, nor as yet quite buried under the mass of preferments
which he afterwards accumulated, seems to have thought that this
indeed was the crisis of his fortunes, and that, unless he was
prepared to die a mere prebendary, canon, and rector of one or two
benefices, now was the time to strike a blow for his advancement
in the Church. His bustling activity at this trying time was indeed
portentous, and at last took the form of arresting the unfortunate
Dr. Burton (the original of Dr. Slop), on suspicion of holding
communication with the invading army of the Pretender, then on its
march southward from Edinburgh. The suspect, who was wholly innocent,
was taken to London and kept in custody for nearly a year before
being discharged, after which, by way of a slight redress, a letter
of reprimand for his _trop de zele_ was sent by direction of
Lord Carteret to the militant dignitary. But the desired end was
nevertheless attained, and Dr. Sterne succeeded in crowning the
edifice of his ecclesiastical honours.[1]

[Footnote 1: A once-familiar piece of humorous verse describes the
upset of a coach containing a clerical pluralist:

"When struggling on the ground was seen
A Rector, Vicar, Canon, Dean;
You might have thought the coach was full,
But no! 'twas only Dr. Bull."

Dr. Jacq