one morning as usual, he dropped down on the hill in a fit and died in a few seconds.
There was not much change for a good many years. In 1846, the Parsonage House was built and given to the living by Mr. Keble. The stained glass of the south window of the Church was given by the Reverend John Yonge, of Puslinch, Rector of Newton Ferrers, in Devonshire, in memory of his youngest son, Edmund Charles, who died at Otterbourne House in 1847. Thirteen years previously, in 1834, the eldest son, James Yonge, had likewise died at Otterbourne House. Both the brothers lie buried here, one in the old churchyard, one in the new. They are commemorated in their own church at Newton by a tablet with the inscription-'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shall know hereafter.'
In 1834 their father gave what made, as it were the second foundation of the Lending Library, for there were about four-and-twenty very serious books, given in Archdeacon Heathcote's time, kept in the vestry at the old Church. They looked as if they had been read but only by the elder people who liked a grave book, and there was nothing there meant for the young people. So there were a good many new books bought, and weekly given out at the Penny Club, with more or less vigour, for the next thirty years or so.
The next public matter that greatly affected this place was the Crimean War. It was a large proportion of our young men who were more or less concerned in it. Captain Denzill Chamberlayne in the Cavalry, Lieut. Julian B. Yonge, John Hawkins, Joseph Knight, James and William Mason, and it was in the midst of the hurry and confusion of the departure that the death of Mr. W. C. Yonge took place, February 26th, 1854. Three of those above mentioned lived to return home. Captain Chamberlayne shared in the famous charge of the Light Brigade, at Balaclava, when
Into the jaws of death
Rode the six hundred:
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Volleyed and thundered.
His horse, Pimento, was killed under him, but he escaped without a wound, and on his return home was drawn up to the house by the people, and had a reception which made such an impression on the children that when one was asked in school what a hero was, she answered, 'Captain Chamberlayne.'
John Hawkins, Joseph Knight, and William Mason died in the Crimea. A tablet to commemorate them was built into the wall of the churchyard, with the text-'It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,' for the discipline of the army had been very good for these youths, and, therefore, this verse was chosen for them by Mr. Keble.
The next event that concerned the parish much was the death of the great and holy man who had been our rector for thirty years. Mr. Keble died at Bournemouth on the 29th of March, 1866. His manners and language were always so simple, and his humility so great, that many of those who came in contact with him never realized how great a man he was, not being able to perceive that the very deepest thoughts might be clothed in the plainest language. Some felt, in the words of the poem,-
'I came and saw, and having seen,
Weak heart! I drew offence
From thy prompt smile, thy humble mien,
Thy lowly diligence.'
But none who really knew him could fail to be impressed with the sense of his power, his wisdom, his love, and, above all, his holiness; and his
Sir William Heathcote then appointed the Reverend James G. Young as Vicar of Hursley and Otterbourne. A fresh tide of change began to set in. As times altered and population increased, and as old things and people passed away, there were various changes in the face of the village. The Government requirements made it necessary to erect a new Girl's School, and land was permanently secured for the purpose, and this was done chiefly by subscription among the inhabitants, affording a room large enough for parish meetings and lectures, as well as for its direct purpose. The subscription was as a testimonial to the Rev. William Bigg- Wither, who had been thirty years curate of the parish, and under whom many of the changes for the better were worked out. The building was provided with a tower, in case there should ever be a clock given to the parish.
The clock was given in a manner worthy of remembrance. Mr. William Pink, as a thatcher, and his two sisters in service, had saved enough to provide for their old age, and to leave a considerable overplus, out of which the last survivor, Mrs. Elizabeth Pink, when passing away at a good old age, bequeathed enough to provide the parish with the clock whose voice has already become one of our most familiar sounds.
Allbrook was by this time growing into a large hamlet, and a school chapel was then built, chiefly by Mr. Wheeler. We must not forget that we had for five years the great and excellent Samuel Wilberforce for our Bishop, and that he twice held confirmations in our parish. No one can forget the shock of his sudden call. One moment he was calling his companion's attention to the notes of a late singing nightingale; the next, his horse had stumbled and he was gone. It was remarkable that shortly before he had, after going over the hospital, spoken with dread of what he called the 'humiliation of a lingering illness'-exactly what he was spared.
Bishop Harold Browne came from Ely to take the See of Winchester. He reconsecrated our church when the chancel was enlarged and the new aisle added. He carried on vigorously work only begun under Bishop Wilberforce. Under him Diocesan Synods, the Girls' Friendly Society, and the Examination of Senior Scholars in Religious Knowledge have all shown his diligent oversight as Shepherd of the flock.
In the year 1875 Sir William Heathcote succeeded in bringing about an arrangement by which Otterbourne could be separated from Hursley and have a Vicar of its own, the difference of income being made up to the Vicar of Hursley. This was done by the aid of a munificent lady, Mrs. Gibbs, the widow of one of the great merchant princes, whose wealth was always treated as a trust from God. She became the patron of the living, and the advowson remains in her family.
The first Vicar was the Reverend Walter Francis Elgie, who had already been six years curate, and had won the love and honour of all his flock. Deeply did they all mourn him when it was God's will to take him from them on the 25th of February, 1881, in the 43rd year of his age, after ten years of zealous work.
It was felt as remarkable that a young pupil teacher in consumption, whom he had sent to the Home at Bournemouth, was taken on the same day, and buried here the day after, and that the schoolmaster, Walter Fisher, a man of gentle and saintly nature, followed him six weeks after.
We left them in the Church's shade,
Our standard-bearer true,
And near at hand the gentle maid
Who well his guidance knew.
He fainted in the noon of life,
Nor knew his victory won;
She was fresh girded for the strife,
Her battle scarce begun.
Long had we known Death's angel hand
The maiden's brow had seal'd;
He fell, like chief of warrior band,
Struck down on battle-field.
So in God's acre here they meet
As they have met above,
Tasting beneath their Saviour's feet
The treasures of His love.
For what they learnt and taught of here
Is present with them there;
May we speed on in faith and fear,
Then heavenly rest to share.
With the coming of our present Vicar, the Rev. H. W. Brock, our Otterbourne story ends, as the times are no
