George Carleton

, sometimes Fellow of Merton coll. was consecrated Bishop of Landaff on the 12. July, an. 1618. translated thence to Chichester in Sept. 1619. 1628 and departed this life in the month of May in sixteen hundred twenty and eight, under which year you may see more of him among the writers. In the See of Chichester succeeded Dr. Rich. Mountague, who, after election and confirmation thereunto, was consecrated in the Archbishops chappel at Croyden in Surrey 24. Aug. 1628. This learned person who was Son of Laurence Mountague Minister of Dorney in Bucks. And he the Son of Rob. Mountague of Boudney in the Parish of Burnham in the said County, was born at Dorney, educated in Grammar learning in Eaton School, elected a Member of Kings coll. in Cambridge 1594. took the degrees in Arts, became Parson of Wotton-Courtney in Somersetshire, Prebendary of Wells, Rector of Stanford-Rivers in Essex, Chaplain to K. Jam. 1. Archdeacon and Dean of Hereford; which last dignity he changed with Ol. Lloyd LL. D. for a Prebendship of Windsore, in 1617. and being about that time made Fellow of Eaton coll. which he kept with Windsore by a dispensation, did learnedly read for 8 years together the Theological Lecture in the chappel at Windsore. Afterwards he was made Rector of Petworth in Sussex, bestowed much money in the repairing of the Parsonage house there, as he did afterwards on the Bishops house at Aldingbourne. At length his Majesty being minded to translate him to Norwych was elected thereunto by the Dean and Chapter 4. of May 1638. where sitting to the time of his death (which hapned in Apr. 1641. leaving then behind him a Son named Richard) was buried in the Choire of the Cath. Ch. belonging to that place, where, to this day, is this only written on his grave, Depositum Montacutii Episcopi. He came to Norwych with the evil effects of a quartan Ague, which he had had about an year before, and which accompanied him to his grave, yet he studied and wrote very much, had an excellent Library of books, and heaps of papers fairly written with his own hand concerning the Ecclesiastical History: He was a person exceedingly well vers’d in all the learning of Greeks and Romans, and as well studied in the Fathers, Councils, and all other antient monuments of the Christian World, as any Man besides in the whole Nation. K. Jam. 1. knew the Man well, and was exceedingly pleased with his performance against the History of Tithes, wherein he had beaten the (then thought) matchless Selden at his own weapon, and shew’d himself the greatest Philosopher of the two. Upon which ground his Majesty looked upon him as the fittest person, and therefore commanded him to view and purge the Church History, which was then taken and judged by many to be corrupted and depraved with various figments by certain writers of the R. Cath. p [•] rty, especially by Baronius; which he accordingly did with great industry and admirable judgment. What other things he wrote you may mostly see in the Bodleian or Oxford catolague: And what he suffered for his New Gag for the old Gospel, or his Answer to the late Gagger of Protestants, occasioned by the Puritan, and also for his Apello Caesarem, you may see at large in Dr. Heylyns History of the life and death of Will. Laud Archb. of Canterbury, under the years 1624. 25. &c. He also set forth Nazianzen’s invective orations against Julian, in Greek, and was employed by Sir Hen. Savile (who countenanced him much) in correcting most part of Chrysostom in Greek before it went to the Press.