It was now decided that as a nobleman's chaplain it would be well for him to have a university degree, and to this end his name was entered on the boards of Trinity College, Cambridge, through the good offices of Bishop Watson of Llandaff, with a view to his obtaining a degree without residence.

This was in 1783, but almost immediately afterwards he received an LL.B.degree from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

This was obtained for Crabbe in order that he might hold two small livings in Dorsetshire, Frome St.Quintin and Evershot, to which he had just been presented by Thurlow.

It was on this occasion that the Chancellor made his memorable comparison of Crabbe to Parson Adams, no doubt pointing to a certain rusticity, and possibly provincial accent, from which Crabbe seems never to have been wholly free.

This promotion seems to have interfered very little with Crabbe's residence at Belvoir or in London.
A curate was doubtless placed in one or other of the parsonage-houses in Dorsetshire at such modest stipend as was then usual--often not more than thirty pounds a year--and the rector would content himself with a periodical flying visit to receive tithe, or inquire into any parish grievances that may have reached his ear.