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In May, 1791, Paley lost his wife, by whom he had a family of four sons, and four daughters*. She was a lady of whom we can add nothing to our former notice.

The dean and chapter of Carlisle soon after presented him with the living of Addingham, near Great Salkeld, producing annually about one hundred and forty pounds; and in the same year he published, during the height of the French revolutionary mania, two tracts, "Reasons for Contentment, addressed to the Labouring Classes," and the chapter "On the British Constitution, taken from his work on Moral and Political Philosophy,”from which, his biographer Meadley, who would fain make him out on all occasions to be a Whig, seems to insinuate, that he too much countenanced Toryism†; although Paley expressly says in his preface, "The principles here delivered were not made for the times, or the occasion, to serve any purpose, or any party."

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When Paley lost his first patron, the bishop of Carlisle, he speedily acquired in his successor, Dr. Vernon, now archbishop of York, a friend equally warm, for soon after his installation, he collated Paley to the vicarage of Stanwix, on which he resigned Dalston on the 15th of March, 1798. Paley's reasons for the exchange, when asked for them by a clerical friend, were candid in the extreme. Why, Sir, I had three reasons for taking Stanwix, in exchange for Dalston; first, it saved me double house-keeping; secondly, it was fifty pounds a year more in value; and thirdly, I found my stock of sermons began to come over again too fast t." In this interval he had been assiduously employed upon his third great work, which appeared in 1774, in three duodecimo volumes; "A View of the Evidences of Christianity," a work which from the ability it displayed, the period at which it appeared-England's darkest days of infidelity-and the sensation it produced, at once elevated Paley into general notice. It was applauded on all hands, by the learned and the common-place reader, the student, the clergy, and the king §; and like his other principal works, has been translated into most of the European languages.

The conduct on this occasion of the bishops, who then adorned the episcopal bench, was extremely creditable. They united as it were in doing honour to the author of this splendid work. It was hardly issued from the press, when Dr. Porteus, then bishop of London, gave him the prebend stall of Pancras, in St. Paul's; worth about one hundred and fifty pounds a year, without any residentiary duties being attached to it. He was hardly collated to this dignity, when Dr. Pretyman, bishop of Lincoln, made him subdean of that diocese; worth seven hundred pounds per annum. He was installed on the

24th of January 1795, and immediately proceeded to Cambridge, where he took the degree of doctor in divinity. He had not been many days at Cambridge, enjoying the society of his old brother collegians and friends, when he received a letter from another personal stranger, Dr. Barrington, the excellent bishop of Durham, offering him the valuable rectory of Bishop's Wearmouth. Well might Paley, astonished at such a rapid preferment, exclaim, when writing to his favourite sister Betty an account of this good news, "The bishops are surely bewitched ."

• We regret our inability to give many particulars of these children. One son, William, was a barrister on the Northern circuit, and of considerable talents; he died in March, 1817, aged 37: another son, Edmund, is or was rector of Easingwold, the editor of his works, and the author of a Life prefixed to them.-Lynam's Life of Paley, p. 57.

Life of Paley, p. 161.

Meadley's Paley, p.168.

§ George III. highly commended it; carried it about with him in his carriage; more than once extolled it to Majendie and Wilson; and was careful to inquire of Paley's welfare.-Paley's Life of Paley, p. 343. || Ibid. p. 269.

This was the last of Paley's preferments. He continued at this delightful rectory until his death. He thus describes it in a letter to one of his friends †:

“I must give you an account of the munificent present which the bishop of Durham has made me. The tithes and glebe are now let to good tenants for ten hundred and twenty-one pounds; the tithes for six hundred. The glebe is also likely to be improved by a bridge, which is just finished over the river Wear; and such a house! I was told at Durham that it was one of the best parsonages in England, and that there are not more than three bishops that have better; two or three hot-houses and a greenhouse, and nearly a mile of wall planted with fruit trees."

Between this place and his deanery house at Lincoln, he henceforth principally divided his time; preaching and publishing occasional sermons; and employed upon his last great work, the "Elements of Natural Theology." Added to this he was an active magistrate; attended the quarter sessions at Durham; ineffectually proposed sundry magisterial reforms; and passed his leisure hours in the society of the many distinguished characters who visited him, among whom were, Ellenborough, Mackintosh, and the bishop of Elphin. He married a second time, in 1795. The object of his choice was Miss Dobinson, a lady of Carlisle; of this lady, who survived him, we have few particulars, the Doctor had been acquainted with her for some years before their marriage. Of his domestic arrangements, judging by his life written by his son, we believe his family are unwilling to speak; he was careless in his dress, kind, passionate, and benevolent; silent and contemplative; always full of thought, but never wearing the appearance of study; occupied incessantly in drawing together materials for his works in his walks, his rides, and even at the card table. He was it appears fond of whist, and theatrical performances to the last. His eagerness at cards is indicated by the anecdote told of him at Wearmouth; upon the run of luck being against him, he was carefully collecting the cards, when one of his opponents remarked, "You shuffle a good deal, Dr. Paley." Aye," rejoined Paley, “when a man grows poor it makes him shuffle ‡.”

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He lost his mother in 1796, and three years afterwards his father, to whose memory he erected a tablet in Giggleswick church. Soon after their decease, in the summer of 1800, he himself felt the first attacks of the nephritic disorder, which finally brought him to his grave. However, he visited Carlisle in the autumn of this year, and officiated for his successor, professor Carlyle, as Chancellor of that diocese. In the following spring (1802) he was unable, owing to the excruciating pains he endured, to keep his residence at Lincoln. His

A view of Paley's preferments, and the dates of his promotions, will show that his friends had no reason to complain that his talents were neglected.

1766 made Fellow of Christ's College,

Prebend of Carlisle, by Dr. Law.

worth £100 per annum.

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Rector of Dalston, by Dr. Law.

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Vicar of Appleby, by the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle.

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Archdeacon of Carlisle, by Dr. Law.
Chancellor of Carlisle, by Dr. Law.
Vicar of Addingham, by Dr. Vernon.
1793* Vicar of Stanwix, by Dr. Vernon.
1794* Prebend of St. Paul's, by Dr. Porteus.
1795* Sub Dean of Lincoln, by Dr. Pretyman.
1795*

Those marked were held by him up to the time of his decease, He received, as we have before noticed, one thousand pounds for his "Moral and Political Philosophy;" but we believe only half that sum for his "Hora Paulinæ," and his "Evidences of Christianity."-See his Letter to his Bookseller to this effect, Paley's Life of Paley, vol. i., p. 238.

+ Ibid. 272.

Meadley's Paley, p. 188.

bodily powers from this time began to decay, but the energies of his mind were never impaired. In the intervals between the paroxysms, his vivacity was as great, his mind as vigorous as ever; and he worked upon his last work, his "Natural Theology," with all the devotion of his happier days. In the month of May, we find that he was induced to try the waters of Buxton, where he met his own physician, Dr. Clarke, and Dr. Currie, of Liverpool. Dr. Fenwick, in his life of Clarke, has spoken of his meeting Paley at that place, in a way which we cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing *.

"He was then engaged in finishing his Natural Theology; the completion, however, of that great undertaking was frequently interrupted by severe accessions of a painful disorder, under which he had long laboured." Dr. Clarke often expressed his admiration at the fortitude with which he bore the most painful attacks, and at the readiness, and even cheerfulness, with which on the first respite from pain he resumed his literary labours.

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"When it is considered that the twenty-sixth chapter of his work was written under these circumstances, what he has there said of the alleviations of pain,' acquires additional weight. When Dr. Paley speaks of the power which pain has of shedding a satisfaction over intervals of ease, which few enjoyments exceed,'-'that a man resting from severe pain, is for the time in possession of feelings which undisturbed rest cannot impart,' the sentiment flowed from his own feelings. He was himself that man."

Having received some benefit from the Buxton waters, he returned, after an absence of two months, to Bishop's Wearmouth. He alluded very feelingly to the complaints under which he so long laboured, in the address to his patron, good bishop Barrington, which constitutes the dedication of his Natural Theology, published soon after his return to his rectory. "A weak, and of late a painful, state of health, deprived me of the power of discharging the duties of my station in a manner at all suitable either to my sense of those duties, or to my most anxious wishes concerning them."

This work, it seems from the same letter, he considered as alone requisite to make up his works "into a system," and will strike every one as being the first of his great publications, "which ought to be read." Guided by that conviction, we shall in this volume depart from the usual order of arrangement by placing it the first in the collection. It is needless to descant upon the value of this work; our criticisms and illustrations will be more appropriately placed among its notes. It needs few additional arguments, and all attempts to enlarge upon the plan which Paley laid down for himself in its execution, have been complete failures. We may exempt however, from this censure, a lately published able introductory discourse, by Lord Brougham, and the notes of Sir Charles Bell.

The archdeaconry of Carlisle, and its annexed living, were resigned by Paley in 1804. He could not attend to their duties, for his disorder continued to attack him with increasing violence, and he was now evidently sinking under the repetition of its visitations. In the intervals of freedom from pain, he enjoyed life with all his wonted zest; visited the theatre, read works of science and general literature, received his friends with his usual hospitality and freedom from ostentation, was to the last greedy of acquiring knowledge, and even studied the chemistry of Dr. Black. Paley evidently relished conviviality; enjoyed society; loved Lincoln for this reason better than Bishop's Wearmouth; and would, after suffering the most poignant pains, gladly escape from his couch to his literary club, his rubber of

* Sketch of the Life and Character of Dr. Clarke.-Meadley's Life of Palcy, p. 204.

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whist, and his barrel of oysters; where, even when in pain, he would long keep the company in a roar *. He was negligent of himself, especially in his diet.

Of the private hours of this great man, every insight is interesting; we cannot refrain from again quoting the words and description given of him by his son +:-" For an hour after breakfast and dinner, he had his regular walks of musing and recollection, with which he let nothing interfere, nor any one share except his youngest daughter, who with a basket under her arm, to pick up anything he chose to put into it, followed him; haud æquis passibus.' At such times he seldom spoke a single word, but now and then he used to surprise his little companion by bursting out into the most immoderate laughter, or mouthing out scraps of poetry, or sentences of prose; quite enough to show that these were seasonable exercises both for his mind and his body. With the handle of his stick in his mouth, now moving in a short hurried step, now stopping at a butterfly, a flower, a snail, &c.; at one instant pausing to consider the subject of his next sermon, at the next carrying the whole weight and intent of his mind to the arranging some pots in his greenhouse, or preparing with the greatest gravity to remove some stick or stand that offended his eye, he presented the most prominent feature of his mind very obviously, but made it perhaps happy for his public character that he chose to be alone. In the evening he seldom conversed much with his family, though he would not but have them round him, and left them quite at liberty to employ such times in their own way.

"He contrived with some whimsical and capricious habits to keep up their relish for such domestic scenes with so little appearance of singularity, and if not with good-humoured playfulness, yet with such obvious pain if they were not relished, that there was no member of his family who would not have thought it equally unfeeling and undutiful to have suffered either themselves or any other to have noticed his singularities.”

He kept his usual residence at Lincoln, in the spring of 1805, and returned for the last time to his house, at Bishop's Wearmouth, in the early part of May. Here, a renewed and violent attack of his agonising complaint hurried him away to his Creator, on the 25th of that month. "A few days before that event took place," says his son, the Rev. E. Paley, "he had made an assortment of his letters and papers, and ordered some of them to be destroyed. Some short time before that, he had been employed in his study, in tying up two or three bundles of sermons, and expressed himself satisfied that now he had left that ready."" These proved to be the sermons for publication, the directions for which he left in the codicil to his will.

He was confined to his bed a very short time; he had written to one of his family, but a few days before his death, "that he had been very ill, but was now better," when a fresh return of his disorder, after much suffering produced a rapid and fatal mortification. His bodily powers were so little weakened, that a few hours before his death, “he lifted a large pitcher of water to his mouth." That his mind was unshaken from its habitual confidence and self-possession, there is every reason to believe, for on his desiring to have his posture changed, and being told by his surgeon that he was in danger of dying under the attempt, he with great calmness and resignation said, 'Well, try-never mind,' and after some severe convulsions, expired ‡.”

The death of Paley was lamented by the great and the good of all parties and classes of his countrymen-statesmen quoted his works; professors and tutors introduced them

Paley's Life of Paley, p. 315.

Ibid. p. 291.

Ibid, p. 371.

as text books for learned universities; foreign authors eagerly translated them; he was honoured in his life-time, but still more applauded, when he no longer could be gratified by the approbation of his countrymen. It is highly satisfactory to the lover of Paley, and of truth, to learn that he added his dying testimony to the correctness of those Christian doctrines he had through life so essentially befriended; for to one of his intimate friends, he remarked during one of his last days,-"There can be no deceit in this matter. I have examined it with all the attention of which I am capable; and if there had been a cheat in it, I think I must have found it out *." He was buried on the 4th of June, 1805, in the cathedral of Carlisle, in the same grave with his first wife t.

In person, he is described as being rather above the middle size, and rather corpulent, especially towards the close of his days. As through a prosperous life, he had been economical in his expenses, even in the season of his greatest good fortune, he died rich, leaving his children in a state of independence. In a codicil to his last will, he expressly desired that the sermons he left behind him should not be published, but printed and distributed gratis amongst his flock, at Bishop's Wearmouth, which was carefully done ‡. An imperfect edition of them, however, soon made its appearance, and in consequence the family felt obliged to publish them. The proceeds, they were careful to present to various charities. These sermons do not bear the same impress of genius, that characterises his other works; he was used to compose them too rapidly, wrote them down only in part, and that portion in so unintelligible a hand, that he could with difficulty decipher it, and we can hardly imagine, that where their author failed, a copier, however careful, would succeed.

In all the relations of private life, he appears to have been highly estimable, was a good husband and parent, an excellent master of a family, charitable and generous, never making the slightest attempts at a display of his own acquirements; and his own family, it appears, were, from his retired habits, the last to be made acquainted with his public honours. As a friend to his country, Paley was warm and sincere; "friendly with men of all parties, he was of every party, but never exclusively attached to any §."

• Meadley's Paley, p. 222.

On the gravestone is inscribed "Hero lie interred the remains of William Paley, D.D., who did May, 25, 1805, aged 62." Ibid. p. 224. Life by his Son. § Ibid. p. 72.

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