On the 6th of May, 1758, the subject of this article, who by this time had been married and appointed one of the king's chaplains, proceeded B. and D.D. In 1762, he was made canon of Windsor, and in the course of the succeeding year be once more refreshed his mind by toreign travels, having accompanied his firm friend and patron, the Earl of Bath, to Spa. On the demise of that nobleman, in 1764, it was found that he had remembered him in his will. The paragraph, in which the Doctor was mentioned with particular respect, at the same time very appositely bequeathed to him the noble library at Bath House, as a legacy. This was redeemed during the life of General Pulteney, for the very inadequate sum of 1,000l. and it having reverted once more by will to the original lega e, was after wards given up a second time, at the request of the late Sir William Pulteney, who also paid 1,0001, on the occa

As Dr. Douglas did not dislike a town life, he very readily acceded to a proposition, which removed han to St. Paul's, and we now find him as heretofore, busily employed in literary avocations, having undertaken the Introduction, Notes, &c. to Cook's third and last Voyage, which, in many respects, may be considered as a national work. At length, in September, 1787, he received the uitre, having been elected, or in other words, nominated by conge d'elire, to the see of Carlisle, on which occasion he succeeded Dr. Edmund Law. He was the fifty-second bishop, reckoning from Athelwolf, or Athelward, in 1183. This mitred preferment is valued, in the king's books, at 530l. 4s. 11d; and is computed at only 2,8001. or 3000l. per

annum.

In 1791, his lordship was translated to the richer see of Salisbury, being supposed to produce the annual revenue of from 3,500l. to 3,7001. Of this, he was the 87th prelate, reckoning from St. Adhelm, bishop of Sherborn.

This was the last stage of his mortal career, for the good bishop remained attached to the see of Salisbury during the remainder of his life, which was protracted sixteen years longer. He was formerly, at times, afflicted with disease; but of late his health had been better than heretofore. Indeed, he cannot be strictly said to have perished by the intervention of a mortal malady; for, not only was he devoid of any specific complaint, but his faculties remained clear, unclouded, and almost unchanged, to the very

last moment of his existence. Notwithstanding this, at the age of 80, the lamp of life burns dim, and, accordingly, the vital powers were gradually extinguished, rather than forcibly destroyed, on the 18th of May, 1807, when he expired in the arms of his son, the Rev. William Douglas, one of the six canons, and chancellor of Salisbury, on the 18th of May, 1807.

As the bishop of Salisbury was never without a book or a pen in his band, when alone, it may be readily supposed that he was addicted to literary society, as well as literary disputes. He was, ac cordingly, a member of the club instituted by Dr. Johnson, and is frequently alluded to by name, in Boswell's Life of the Lexicographer. Dr. Douglas has also been twice mentioned by Goldsmith, in his poem of “ Retaliation.”

As the Life of a literary man ought to conclude with an account of his works, we here subjoin the best list we have been able to compile:

1. Vindication of Milton from the Charge of Plagiarism adduced by Lauder, 1750.

2. A Letter on the Criterion of Miracles, 1754, principally intended as an Antidote against Voltaire, Huine, and the Philosophers.

3. An Apology for the Clergy, against the Hutchinsomans, Methodists, &c.

4. The Destruction of the trench foretold by Ezekiel, being an Iromead Defence of those he had attacked in the preceding pamphlet, 1754 or 1755.

5. An Attack on certain Positious contained in Bower's History of the Popes, &c. 1756.

6. A serious Defence of the Adminis tration, being an ironical Attack on the Cabinet of that Day, for introducing foreign Troops, 1756.

7. Bower and Tillemont compared,

1757.

8. A full Confutation of Bower's three Defences.

9. The complete and final Detection of Bower.

10. The conduct of a late ble commander (Lord George Sackyre, afterwards lord G. Germain), candudly considered. This was a defence of a very unpopular character, not only then, but throughout life, 1759.

11. A Letter to two Great Men, on the appearance of Peace, 1759.

12. A Pie ace to the Translation of Hooke's Negociations, 1760.

18. The Sentiments or a Frenchman on the Preliminaries of Peace, 1702.

14. The

14. The Introduction and Notes, to Capt. Cook's Third Voyage.

15. The Anniversary Sermon on the Martyrdom of King Charles, preached before the House of Lords, 1788.

16. The Anniversary Sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1793, &c.

In addition to these, in 1763, he superintended the publication of the Diary and Letters of Henry Earl of Clarendon, for which he composed the preface; he also wrote several political papers in the Public Advertiser, in 1768, 1769, &c. In 1770 and 1771, his communications bore the signatures of Tacitus and Manlius. His countryman, Sir John Dalrymple was assisted by him in the arrangement of his manuscripts. Lord Hardwicke also profited by his labours, in respect to the publication of his Mis cellaneous Papers. His lordship was particularly conversant in modern geography, and it was he who drew up Mr. Herne's Narrative, and finished the Introduction.

The Bishop of Salisbury was twice married; first in September 1752, to Miss Dorothy Pershouse, of Reynold's Hall, near Walsall in Staffordshire, who survived that event only three months. He remained a widower during fifteen years, so it was not until April 1765, that he became united to Miss Elizabeth Rooke, daughter of Henry Brudenell Rooke, esq.

EDWARD KING, Esq.

F. R.S. F. S. A. CAPEL SOD. &c. &c.

THIS

HIS learned and venerable gentle man was descended from a Norfolk family of high respectability. His father, who lived to the advanced age of ninety and odd years, married Sarah, the eldest daughter of Thomas Cater, esq. a gentleman of fortune in the before mentioned county, who having no male heir, his name became extinct. Mr. King was the only issue of this marriage. He received the first rudiments of education from Drs. Rullock and Clark, succes sively deans of Norwich; and, in 1748, was sent to the University of Cambridge, as a fellow-commoner of Clare Hall; where he resided several years, most sedulously prosecuting his academical course, and alike distinguishing himself by the correctness of his moral conduct. He afterwards entered himself of Lincoln's Inn, by which society he was called to the bar, and practised at it, with considerable success, and the promise of fu

ture eminence in the profession, until the decease of his father, when, coming into the possession of a handsome fortune, he took his leave of Westminster-hall, and devoted himself to the quiet pursuits of learning, which, during the remainder of his days, he cultivated with such order and perseverance.

His first literary performance was, "an Essay on the English Constitution and Government," octavo: published in 1767.

In 1773, he published “ A Letter addressed to Dr. Hawkesworth, and humbly recommended to the Perusal of the very Learned Deists."

In 1777, he communicated to the Society of Antiquaries an ingenious and very interesting Memoir, on the Castellated Remains of past Ages; which was followed by a fuller memoir in 1782, They are both printed in the Archæologia, and seventy copies of these memoirs were printed in one quarto volume, under the title of " Observations on Ancient Cas tles," for the use of his private friends.

In 1780 he published his much admired" Hymns to the Supreme Being, in imitation of the Eastern Songs," 12mo. In 1783," Proposals for establishing st Sea a marine School, or Sewinary for Seamen," octavo.

In 1788, he presented to the religions world his curious and learned “Morsels of Criticisin, tending to illustrate some few Passages in the Holy Scriptures, upon Philosophical Principles, and an enlarged View of Things," quarto, to which a Supplement was added in 1800, The public attention was in a very parts cular manner called to the contents of the former of these volumes, by the au thor of the Pursuits of Literature, un ac count of some striking interpretations of Prophecy which they exhibited, and which were, several years after the ap pearance of the Morsels, in a remarkable degree confirmed, by the great events which took place in Europe. In 1791, he published "An Imitation of the Prayer of Abel," in the Style of Eastern Poetry; and in 1793, his " Considerations on the Utility of the National Debt," octavo. In 1796, the lovers of antiquarian research were gratified with his elegant "Ves tiges of Oxford Castle," folio; and in the same year he presented to the philosophi cal world his "Remarks concerning Stones said to have fallen from the Clouds, both in these Days and in Ancient Tunes," 4to. Two years afterwards, he sent forth his "Remarks on the Signs of the Times,"

4to. to which a Supplement was added in the following year, which led to the very able" Critical Disquisitions" of the late venerabie Bishop Horsley on the eigh teenth chapter of Isaiah, addressed in a letter to Mr. King, in which his lordship bestows the following high but well merited eulogium-ou that gentleman. "I cannot (says the Rt. Rev. prelate) enter upon the subjects, without professing not to yourself, but to the world, now highly I value and esteem your writings, for the variety and depth of erudition, the sagacity and piety which appear in every part of them: but appear not more in them, than in the conversation and the habits of your life, to those who have the happiness, as I have, to enjoy your intimacy and friendship. I must publicly declare that I think you are rendering the best service to the church of God, by turning the attention of believers to the true sense of all the prophecies." The very learned prelate some few years afterwards published his ingenious and scientific tract" On Virgil's two Seasons of Honey, and his Season of sowing Wheat, with a new and compendious Method of investigating the Risings and Fallings of the fixed Stars," which he likewise addressed to Mr. King in an affectionate dedication, "as eminently qualified to judge of the soundness of the arguments, the truth of the conclusions, and to appreciate the merits of the whole."

In 1799, Mr. King published the first volume of a most arduous and magnificent undertaking, the work of many years laborious study, and investigation, entitled "Munimenta Antiqua, or Observations on Antient Castles, including Remarks on the whole Progress of Architecture, Ecclesiastical, as well as Military, in Great Britain, and on the Corresponding Changes in Manners, Laws, and Customs tending to illustrate Modern History and to elucidate many interesting Passages in various Classic Authors, fol." The second volume appeared in 1802, and the third in 1804. The fourth volume, which will complete this great and ably executed design, was nearly ready for the press, when death closed the labours of its author. The Munimenta Antiqua is accompanied by beautiful and very accurate engravings, soine of which are from the elegant drawings of his niece, the Hon. Mrs. Henry Windsor.

In 1803, Mr. King published a small tract, entitled, "Honest Apprehensions, and sincere Confessions of Faith of a

plain honest Layman;" and in 1805, he engaged in a literary discussion with Mr. Dutens on the antiquity of the arch, which led to several publications on both sides.

en

Such have been the learned labours of Mr. ring, as far as tuose labours have met the public eye; and it will not be disputed that they have greatly assisted to inform and enlighten mankind, on the important subjects, to the elucidation of which they were so honestly and so zealously directed. His public services in the cause of learning, great and extensive as they were, were not, however, by any means his only labours. He has left be hind him an uncommonly large collection of most curious and valuable MSS. on various subjects, which were written at different periods of his life, and some of which appear to have been intended for the press; and among these, a very extensive work, which had been the fruits of many years patient and deep study, on the theory of the earth. It is to this work that he refers, in the thirteenth chapter of the supplement to his "Morsels of Criticism," on the combined effects of gravitation, the attraction of cohesion and the centrifugal force of our earthly globe: "For near forty years with unceasing attention," says he, quiries to elucidate this subject have been an object of my pursuit; and the first intimations of the chain and mode of reasoning which I was led to pursue, and of the ideas which led me to it, were ventured by me into the world, and were printed in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. LVII. for the year 1767, long before Mr. Whitehurst's book was published. Since the printing of that paper, I have continually been pursuing the subject analytically, both by putting together facts resulting from every observation that I had myself any opportunities to make on natural appearances; and also by collecting and arranging facts from all the accounts I could meet with of the most intelligent voyagers and travellers, and natural historians; and these," adds he, "I should ere this have communicated to the world; endeavouring to place the conclusions resulting from the whole, in the fullest and fairest point of view; but have been hindered by the great expense attending the engraving of the numerous drawings that must accompany such a kind of publication. Whether (continues he) it will ever be in my power `during the short remainder of life, if my days be prolonged, to accomplish my wish of

overcoming these difficulties, and of publishing the materials I have collected, arranged, and written; or whether any one coming after me, will take the trouble and care, to make use of them; or whether any more able enquirers will tread in the same path, I cannot dare to expect with any sanguine hope."

Perhaps no man in modern times ever pursued with more unabated diligence and determined spirit those objects of study which engaged his attention, than Mr. King. His mind was peculiarly formed for profound research; and his writings display an uncommon extent and variety of learning, and an extraordinary acuteness and ingenuity of thought; some of his opinions, particularly on philosophical matters, are certainly of a speculative and eccentric kind, though in general no man could be more cautious and wary as to the conclusions he formed, nor could any one suggest his ideas with more humility; the subject which especially engaged his penetrating mind, was the sacred volume. "In him," observes a learned writer, 66 we see an example, now alas! but too uncommon, of a man whose propensity for the study of sacred things, and particularly of the Holy Scriptures, in as active, lively, and sincere, as any feeling of taste, or any principle of literary or elegant curiosity. His works display him to our view, meditating on the inspired writers, with an exactness which a sincere affection for them only could produce; weighing facts and comparing them with philosophical discoveries, and calling to his aid every branch of knowledge, if by any means he might be able to illustrate something obscure, or clear away some difficulty." Of his knowledge and skill in the pursuits of antiquity, the Munimenta Antique, will long continue an eminent and splendid proof.

We may in a great measure form our opinion of the man from a view of his writings; for in them will be found, an honesty, a candour, a sincerity, and a piety which very much serve to exemplify the amiableness of his mind, and the purity of his heart. But to become thoroughly acquainted with the worth of his character, it is necessary that he should have been seen in his private life and conduct: all the duties of which he discharged in a most exemplary manner; as to his piety, it had a degree of warinth and zeal which seemed near enthusiasm; and at the same time, all the solidity, constancy, and regularity, that the in

2

fluence of reason and revelation are cal culated to produce on a mind which sin cerely gives itself up to be conducted by them. He was kind and charitable in lus disposition; and was ready to give to those who were in need; as a companion he was entertaining and instructive; his conversation was full of spirit and intel ligence; and his manners were characterized by a plain and genuine simplicity which was truly interesting.

In 1781, he became a vice president of the Society of Antiquaries, on the vacan cy occasioned by the death of Sir Joseph Ayloffe, bart. In the year 1783, the society lost its president, the late Dean Milles. For several years it had been, from a variety of causes, in a state very far from prosperous; its pecuniary re sources deficient, and a certain degree of languor attending its weekly meetings, which obstructed those lively, animated communications of science, on the supplies of which, not only the welfare but the existence of such a learned body most obviously depends. It was therefore highly necessary to appoint some person to the office of president, who by the influence of his character and other qualifications might be capable of restoring its enfeebled energies. The eyes of all were turned on Mr. King, and he accepted of the responsible charge. Mr. King's continuance in the office of president was, however, but short; for at the annual election in the following year, he quitted the chair, in order to introduce Lord de Ferrars, now Earl of Leicester, as the future president: which he did in a speech which will long be remembered for the very satisfactory account it afforded of his proceedings, and of the noble disinterested principle by which he was actuated in his retirement from a post, the duties of which he had discharged so honourably to himself, and so beneficially to the respectable society at the head of which he had been placed. This speech was printed. I come now," said he, " to take my leave of this dignified station, and to quit this seat of high honor, having been so fortunate as to have carried into execution, during the short time I have sat here, most of those plans and purposes for the advancement of the true interests of the society; for the augmenting and securing its revenues; and for adding fresh vigour and spirit to its operations and proceedings; the accomplishment of which, was my sole inducement for venturing to take this

charge