his folly in this respect. Not the least subject of curiosity, which the inspection of his manuscripts affords, is his hand-writing. We are sometimes told that there are three descriptions of hand-writing, into some of which most men glide who can write at all; that which every body may read, that which only the writer can read, and that which neither the writer nor any body else can read. Paley's hand-writing included all these descriptions*. His son adds several anecdotes confirmatory of the fact of his writing an unintelligible hand; for instance, on being requested by the lady of the bishop of Lincoln, before whom he had preached at Buckden, to leave his sermon for her private perusal, he replied, "You may have it, madam, freely, but it is what neither you nor any body else can make out, for I had much ado to make it out myself t." In 1774, appeared Paley's first work. It is in defence of a publication of his friend the Bishop of Carlisle. This was on the then ardently discussed question of the propriety of requiring a subscription to articles of faith. It gained him great applause, and is distinguished for the same powers of reasoning and illustration which have immortalized his larger and later publications. Of this work, which has long been bound up with his other works, he never either acknowledged or disowned the authorship; there is, however, every reason to believe him to have been the author ‡. Various reasons, probably, conspired to render Paley indifferent about claiming the authorship of this pamphlet ; for, written as it was with all the ardent patriotism of youth, its style and sentiments were by no means calculated to please the high-church clergy, who would naturally regard most of its reasonings as far from orthodox §. The promotion of Dr. Law to the see of Carlisle speedily led to the removal of his son from Cambridge, for he soon after received from his father the living of Warksworth, and a prebendal stall in Carlisle cathedral. Paley soon followed his friend, for upon receiving from the bishop the living of Musgrave, near Appleby, he announced an intention of speedily retiring from Cambridge. To this little living, which was barely worth eighty pounds a year, he was inducted on May the 28th, 1785. He staid in Cumberland after his induction long enough to fall in love with the lady who soon after became his wife. Preparatory to this great event in a clergyman's life, he on the 21st of April preached his last sermon at the chapel royal, at Whitehall; and on the 30th of May resigned his fellowship at Christ's college ¶. Six days afterwards, the marriage took place in the church of St. Mary's, Carlisle. Of his bride, few particulars are related. She was the handsome * Paley's Life of Paley, p. 133. "In writing he never punctuated."-Ibid. p. 138. + Ibid., p. 108. It is interesting to learn the favourable notice taken of this, Paley's first work, by the reviewers. "The Monthly Review," for 1774, p. 463, thus spoke of it "A Defence of the Considerations on the Propriety of requiring a Subscription to Articles of Faith, in reply to a late Answer from the Clarendon Press. By a Friend of Religious Liberty, 8vo., Wilkie, 1774. "This defence is manly, spirited, and judicious, and the superiority in point of argument is so evidently on the side of the friend of religious liberty, that he must be a prejudiced reader indeed who does not discern it." The Critical Review for the same year, p. 80, is much more brief in its notice of the work, "a spirited refutation of Dr. R.'s pamphlet." § The last sentences of his pamphlet are eminently characteristic of Paley. "If we are to wait for improvement till the cool, the calm, the discreet part of mankind begin it; till church governors solicit, or ministers of state propose it; I will venture to pronounce that (without His interposition, with whom nothing is impossible), we may remain as we are till the renovation of all things." While Paley was residing at Cambridge, he often visited his friend Unwin, at Huntingdon, and was introduced by him to the poet Cowper, whom he afterwards met on several occasions. When Hayley's Life of Cowper appeared, Paley, in alluding to the trivial nature of some of the details, stated his surprise, that, among other magnificent notices, he did not find recorded the present he made to this excellent poet, of a black cat.-Life by his Son, p. 84. He was succeeded in his fellowship by Dr. Majendic, afterwards bishop of Bangor. daughter of a spirit-merchant at Carlisle; is described as being inactive and unhealthy, according to her own description "a mere thread-paper wife *;" yet sensible, mild, and unassuming. So that, although this match was made with more than prudential rapidity, yet Paley never, we believe, had any reason to repent of his choice-but was often ready to acknowledge, that the time he spent amongst his parishioners of Musgrave was the happiest period of his life. He lived, however, in the adjoining town of Appleby. At this place, he appears to have passed his days cheerfully and happily, dividing his time between study and fishing,-established a Hyson club, in imitation of one, of which he had been the life and soul at Cambridge,―followed his angling occupation in the beautiful river Eden, and was drawn by Romney, in his fisherman's dress, with the absurd additions, however, of a clerical wig, and his archdeacon's hat, at which evident incongruities, his family were naturally displeased. Romney, who charged fifty pounds for the picture, was on the other hand evidently displeased with the price; and assured the bishop of Clonfert, for whom it was drawn, that he had been offered twice the sum for it t. Paley was never a successful fisherman, although he was devotedly fond of it; and at one period, used to notice regularly in his journal the result of his fishing endeavours. Bishop Law did not lose sight of Paley, for before the end of the same year, he presented him with the vicarage of Dalston, worth more than ninety pounds per annum. To this he was inducted on the 2nd of December, 1776; and on the 15th of July following, preached the visitation sermon in the cathedral of Carlisle, soon after published under the title of "Caution recommended in the Use and Application of Scripture Language‡." This sermon was eloquent and argumentative-but certain observations in it regarding regeneration, and of being born of the Spirit, excited some little discussion. Dr. Knox in the introduction to his Christian Philosophy strongly condemned, while Dr. Percival in his Letters to his Son warmly applauded, it §. Six weeks after the publication of this sermon, he was appointed by the dean and chapter of Carlisle, to the living of Appleby, a vicarage worth rather more than two hundred a year; he had previously resigned Musgrave, and after his induction, on the 10th of September, he divided his time between this place and Dalston. At Appleby, Paley formed an acquaintance with the venerable Yates, master of the grammarschool; and with Mr. Lee, the celebrated barrister, afterwards attorney-general || . It was about this time that he published his compilation of Prayers for the use of the Clergy in visiting the Sick, a valuable little work which has passed through many editions, but which has few claims to originality of composition. On the 17th of June, 1780, he was collated to the fourth prebendal stall in the cathedral of Carlisle, from which he received about four hundred pounds a year. In the following year, he published his excellent ordination sermon, preached as chaplain to the bishop at Rose Castle, on the 29th of July, 1781 ¶. • Paley's Life of Paley, p. 91. : In the Monthly Review for 1778, p. 406, this, Paley's first acknowledged work, is thus noticed : "This is an ingenious and sensible discourse; but the question may be reasonably asked, whether it does not prove too much? and farther, whether, according to Mr. P.'s method of arguing, the greater part of the New Testament may not be supposed to have no relation to the present times, from whence it may not be very difficult to persuade ourselves that we have no concern with Revelation? Such reflections have arisen in our minds on perusing this sermon, which, though of a liberal cast, may possibly have some dangerous tendeney. We do Paley was evidently economical in his early career. His son gives us many characteristic anecdotes confirmatory of this fact, his knitting his children's stockings when vicar of Musgrave, p. 95,-his want of a carpet for the stone floor of his parlour, obliging him to place his pupil, the delicate young Ord, on the bellows, p. 63. "For the justness of its reflections, the propriety of its language, and the benevolence, good sense, and piety which breathe through the whole, we have rarely met with its cqual."-Monthly Review for 1782, p. 240. In the next year, his friend Dr. John Law was made bishop of Clonfert, and on the 5th of August, 1782, Paley succeeded him as archdeacon of Carlisle, with the annexed rectory of Great Salkeld, worth one hundred and forty pounds a year; and, in consequence, he resigned his living of Appleby. He accompanied the bishop to Dublin, where he preached the consecration sermon, which he afterwards published, and then proceeded to visit his friend's palace and diocese on the banks of the Shannon*. The life of Paley must now consist principally in an account of his greater works, and of the consequent patronage he received from the episcopal bench. The events in the tranquil life of a country clergyman are generally few in number, and that of Paley was not an exception. A well known anecdote erroneously imputes to him that about this time he preached in St. Mary's church, at Cambridge, before the celebrated William Pitt, "the boy premier of England," upon the text, "There is a lad here who hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many t." But one of his biographers tells us that he replied to a lady who inquired of him the truth of the story, "I was not at Cambridge at the time, but I remember, that one day when I was riding out with a friend in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, and we were talking about the bustle and confusion which Mr. Pitt's appearance would then cause in the University, I said that if I had been there, and asked to preach on the occasion, I would have taken that passage for my text+." Paley in fact was differently engaged; he was fulfilling the duties of his station in the church, and busily employed in his first great work, "The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy;" the substance of which he had long before delivered in his lectures to his pupils at Christ's college. The appearance of this work was some time delayed for want of a publisher. No one could be found hardy enough to undertake the risk, and Paley was at first too poor to venture to do so himself. The copyright was offered in vain to Mr. Faulder, of Bond street, for one hundred guineas; and at length Paley deemed himself rich enough to take the chance of its success. Its sale from the first was great. Faulder immediately offered two hundred and fifty pounds for the copyright. Paley demanded three hundred; Faulder hesitated long enough to allow another bookseller to proffer one thousand, and then Faulder did the same, and became the purchaser. The agony of Paley lest his friend, the bishop of Clonfert, who was commissioned to sell to Faulder for three hundred, should in the mean time have concluded the sale, was ludicrous enough, but fortunately Paley's letter was in time to prevent the sacrifice. This great work appeared in 1785, under the title of "Principles of Morality and Politics," and at once established Paley's reputation as an elegant and profound reasoner. Its character is that of all his great works; he was never entirely original, but he was rarely indeed a mere compiler. In this publication he followed in a great measure the reasonings of Abraham Tucker, in his "Light of Nature Pursued §." We do not purpose in this place to enter into a critical examination of any of his works. Although it was the first published of his four principal "A Distinction of Orders in the Church, defended upon Principles of Public Utility; a Sermon preached in the Castle Chapel, Dublin, at the Consecration of John Law, D.D., Bishop of Clonfert.-As to the merit of this sermon in a strictly theological sense, we decline giving an opinion. But though we decline offering our opinion of the subject, yet we hesitate not to declare our sentiments of the manner in which it is discussed. We think it equally a proof of Mr. Paley's ingenuity and good sense, his benevolence and his picty. May the Lord of the harvest send more such labourers into the vineyard.'" -Monthly Review for 1783, p. 287. + St. John vi. 9. Meadley's Paley, p. 122. The Monthly Review for 1785, vol. I. p. 182 to 401, noticed it in the following manner :-"The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, by William Paley, Archdeacon of Carlisle.-A very useful and valuable performance." The Critical Review for 1785, p. 29, 202, remarked of the work in a manner equally just; "candour, liberality, and good sense are conspicuous in every page of this important volume." publications, it was, by his own confession, nearly the last in systematic order which should be read. Of a work so well known, and so celebrated in all countries where the subjects on which it treats are regarded, it is utterly needless for us to speak in terms of approbation. The eloquent Mackintosh, when he was delivering in Lincoln's Inn Hall his introductory lecture upon the Law of Nature and Nations, page 28, thus expressed himself with regard to its merits. "Speaking of the work of Dr. Paley, I am desirous of this public opportunity of professing my gratitude for the instruction and pleasure which I have received from that excellent writer, who possesses in so eminent a degree those invaluable qualities of a moralist, good sense, caution, sobriety, and perpetual reference to convenience and practice, and who certainly is thought less original than he really is, merely because his taste and modesty have led him to disdain 'the ostentation of novelty,' and because he generally employs more art to blend his own arguments with the body of received opinions, so as that they are scarce to be distinguished, than other men in the pursuit of a transient popularity have exerted to disguise the most miserable common-places in the shape of paradox." This eulogium was delivered in the year 1798, when Paley was vicar of Bishop's Wearmouth. In 1785 Paley was appointed, on the death of Dr. Burn*, chancellor of the diocese of Carlisle, a situation which, besides fees, produced him about one hundred pounds a year. In 1787, he lost his friend and patron, the venerable bishop of Carlisle, a prelate whose patronage had served him on many great and important occasions. He did justice to his departed friend's memory, in a concise memoir, which was first inserted in Hutchinson's History of Cumberland, and was afterwards copied into the Encyclopædia Britannica. During this period, he was labouring assiduously in his vocation, for Paley had a mind ever restless and energetic. He edited "Collyer's Sacred Interpreter," a small volume, intended for persons preparing for deacon's orders; to this he added " A Short Analysis of the Book of Revelations," chiefly taken from Newton's Dissertation on the Prophecies, and Daubuz's Commentaries. In the spring of 1788, the abolition of the slave trade engaged his anxious attention; he addressed the committee for its abolition, sitting in London +, and afterwards presided as chairman of a meeting at Carlisle, for the promotion of the same object. He had already denounced the system in his "Moral and Political Philosophy+, as "an odious institution." In 1789, Dr. Beadon, master of Jesus college, being advanced to the bishopric of Gloucester, the mastership was offered to Paley, by the visitor (Dr. Philip Yorke), the bishop of Ely. This valuable and flattering offer, however, Paley declined, for reasons which have never been clearly explained, and which, judging by the following letter to his sister, were hardly intelligible to himself: "June, -89. I send the enclosed letter for my father to see from the bishop of Ely, a man I know no more of than I do of the Pope. I was never in a greater quandary ; I have the greatest reason to believe that the situation would be a step to the highest preferments; on the other hand, to leave a situation with which I am much satisfied, and in which I am perfectly at ease in my circumstances, is a serious sort of change. I think it will end in declining it §." * Dr. Burn is still more universally known than Paley, as the author of "The Justice of the Peace," "Ecclesiastical Law," and several other works.-Gen. Biog. Dic. + Clarkson's History of the Abolition, &c. Vol. I. p. 465. Book iii, p. 2, c. 3. § Paley's Life of Paley, p. 195. The manner in which this offer was made Paley did not forget, for when five years afterwards he dedicated to that enlightened prelate his "Evidences of Christianity," he eagerly seized the opportunity of expressing his gratitude, and of reminding him publicly of "the circumstances under which this offer was made." "I had never seen your lordship,-I possessed no connection which could possibly recommend me to your favour,- I was known to you only by my endeavours in common with many others, to discharge my duty as tutor in the University; and by some imperfect, but certainly well intended, and as you thought useful, publications since." Various unsatisfactory reasons have been assigned for Paley's refusal of an office which would in all probability have led him to the episcopal bench-that he was afraid of the expense that disagreeable compliances would have been expected of him-that he must have quarreled with William Pitt*. Various attempts have been indeed made to insinuate that Pitt hindered his promotion, on account of their political opinions being opposed to each other. There is no part, perhaps, of Paley's character more doubtful than his real political bias; he was certainly of no party, was the friend, it is true, of improvements in all sciences, but eloquently denounced several long proposed and popular reformations,—was at the same time the friend of Ellenborough and Mackintosh, of Barrington and Jebb,-was equally strenuous in his opposition to the claims of lord Lonsdale and Horne Tooke. Of another fact, we are quite certain, that if Pitt did not elevate his talented contemporary, yet the bishops whom Pitt had made, the men whom he did promote, earnestly united in patronising Paley +. The industry of political partisans has succeeded in selecting certain paragraphs from his works, which they imagine were offensive to the ministry of the day. Such persons instance the story of the Pigeons +,-his interpretation of the oaths of allegiance §,-his remark that the divine right of kings and the divine right of constables were equally certain ||,— his limiting the right of civil obedience to certain duties, &c. &c.; and yet, years after the publication of these passages, we find by the same authority, that William Pitt seriously entertained the idea of elevating Paley to the deanery of Carlisle ¶. If Paley had offended those in power, his sins were very readily forgiven. His next published work, "Hora Paulina," appeared in 1790, with an affectionate dedication to his friend the bishop of Clonfert. This is certainly Paley's masterpiece; there is more close reasoning, more originality of thought, more variety of illustration in this than in any of his other talented works. Its popularity, however, has not been commensurate with its merits, at least his other works have been much more extensively read; its reasoning is too close, its criticisms much too minute, for the taste of general readers, who would probably read it oftener, if Paley had not written other works more adapted to the popular |