Illustrissimum Virum D[omi]num Franciscum P. Papai Collegasque ejus Enyedenses Apostolicâ hâc benedictione impertit Geo[rgius] Bristol Eccl. Chr. Oxon. Decanus. 12 Cal. Feb. 1718    * Heb 13:1-2: Vulgate: “caritas fraternitatis maneat. hospitalitatem nolite oblivisci per hanc enim latuerunt quidam angelis hospitio receptis.”  * Eph 6:21-23:  Vulgate: “omnia nota vobis faciet carissimus frater et fidelis minister in Domino. quem misi ad vos in hoc ipsum ut cognoscatis quae circa nos sunt et consoletur corda vestra. pax fratribus et caritas cum fide a Deo Patre et Domino Iesu Christo.” – The first words of Eph 6:22 are different from the textus receptus: there one reads “hon epempsa pros hymas eis auto touto”, while here “hon apopempsamen pros hymas”.

p. 467. Oxford, February 1, 1719

Smalridge, George
(1663-1719), English pastor, bishop

George Smalridge was born in Lichfield (Staffordshire) in 1663, a son of the dyer Thomas Smalridge. He learned in the local school when the renowned antiquarian Elias Ashmole (1617-1692) recognized his qualities and sent him on his own costs to the London Westminster School. Here he made a life-long friendship with Francis Atterbury (1663-1732), the later bishop and writer, whose Anglican ideas deeply influenced him. In 1682 he immatriculated in Christ's Church College in Oxford; in 1689 he became M.A. and tutor, and in 1701 he graduated in theology. An eminent work of him is the Auctio Davisiana (Oxford, 1689) written in Latin verse. In 1694, at the celebration of Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613) he was invited to address an oration. In 1693 he received a canon's prebend in the cathedral of Lichfield. Although from 1700 he was nominated substitute professor of theology in Oxford, in 1707 his open Jacobite views prevented him to be the successor of the professor William Jane (1645-1707). In 1710, as a Tory counter-reaction, he was appointed one of the chaplains of the Queen. He was in contact with a number of theologians of his period, among others Daniel Ernst Jablonski, and he made efforts to promote the rapprochement between Lutherans and Anglicans. In 1711 he became a canon of Christ's Church in Oxford and archdeacon of Carlisle, and in 1713 the archdeacon of the Christ's Church, as the successor of Atterbury. In 1714 he was nominated Bishop of Bristol and Lord Almoner. He was however deprived of this later office in 1715, because he did not sign the declaration against the Old Pretender (Jacob Edward, 1688-1766). He kept his archdeaconship until his death, because the See of the Bishop of Bristol provided scarce income at that time. He died in a sudden apoplexy on September 27, 1719. His son Philip (?-1751) became Chancellor of Worcester. George Smalridge was an erudite and popular preacher, a widely known personality in the London of Queen Anne. He was also esteemed by his fellow-countryman Dr. Samuel Johnson, and Jonathan Swift styled him “the famous Dr. Smalridge”. His style – as it is general in the theological works of the period – was clear, but without any soaring and grace. Many of his sermons were printed separately, sixty of them were also collected by his widow and published in one volume: Sixty sermons, preach'd on several occasions … publish'd from the originals. Oxford, 1724. London, 1727. … Oxford, 1852. – Bishop Atterbury's and Bishop Smalridge's reasons for not signing the declaration … London, 1715.

The New Testament verses written in the album allude to hospitality and consolation, as it is appropriate for the occasion. Bishop George gives his apostolic blessing to the owner of the album and to his colleagues in Nagyenyed. As customary, he only signs with his first name (even that abbreviated), and the name of his Bishop's see, but also indicates his title of Archdeacon of Oxford. He died eight months after the visit of Pápai Páriz, at the age of 56. – The above mentioned Daniel Ernst Jablonski had written in the album in 1711 in Berlin (p. 121).

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