Paley, William, D.D., an eminent English divine and philosopher, and one of the most noted characters of the 18th century, was born at Peterborough in the year 1743. He was descended from an old and respectable family in Craven, in the West Hiding of Yorkshire. Dur- ing his infancy his father removed to Giggleswick, in Yorkshire, near the family property, having been ap- pointed head-master of King Edward's School in that place. William was educated under the paternal roof, and speedily distinguished himself by great aljilities, a studious disposition, and a ripeness and discrimination of intellect. In his seventeenth year he was entered a sizar of Christ's College, Cambridge. But unhappily, seduced by the influence of a few gay and dissolute com- panions, the first two years of his college life were en- tirely lost or misspent. The bad fruits of this vagabond life made him a sadder and a wiser man, and with his wisdom there came that fortitude which helped him to disentangle himself from this disgraceful connection, and he resolved on a course of devoted study. So rapid was his progress that in 1763 he took the bachelor's de- gree with the highest honors. He then taught for three years in an academy at Greenwich, In 1765 he ob- tained the first prize for a prose Latin dissertation — the subject being A Comparison between the Stoic and Epi- curean Philosophy tcith respect to the Lnfluence of each on the Morals of a People, in wliich he characteristically argued in favor of tlie latter. Next year he was elected a fellow of his alma mater, Christ's College, and soon after colleague to Dr. Law in his public lectures on moral and political philosophy, as well as on the New
Testament. This early occupation directed Paley's mind to subjects which, when more maturely studied, he gave to the public in works that have obtained him extensive fame as an author. Both as a college lecturer and a preacher, he was greatly admired for his sound sense and discretion, especially for his extraordi- nary skill in simplifying the most abstruse and difficult subjects, and bringing them down to the level of the humblest capacity. He had entered the priesthood in 1767, and in 1770, on his marriage, had of course been obliged to yield up his fellowship. His early patron, Law, who had become bishop of Carlisle, and who was well aware of Paley's merits, now promoted him in the Church by presenting him first to the vicarage of Dal- ston, Cumberland, then to Appleby, Westmoreland, till, in the course of years, he rose to be archdeacon of Carlisle (1782), and chancellor of the diocese (1785). He was a great friend to the abolition of the slave-trade; and in 1789, when the first great discussion in the House of Commons was expected, he drew up a short but appro- priate and judicious treatise, entitled Comments ayainst the Unjust Pretensions of Slave-deeders and Holders to he indemnified hy pecuniary Alloxcances at the jmhlic Ex- piense, in case the Slave-trade shovldbe abolished, and sent it to the committee. The bishop of Durham, entertain- ing great respect for him, and recognising the valuable service which Paley had rendered to the abolition cause, presented him with the valuable rectory of Bishop Wear- mouth, worth twelve hundred pounds a year. His last years, largely given to literary labors, were extremely trying because of his impaired physical condition, but he bore his bodily pain meekly, ever trusting in the kind dispositions of a loving heavenly Father. Paley's piety with becoming progress became more fervent, elevated, and established as he advanced in life. He lingered, notwithstanding the malignity of bis disease, until May 25, 1805, when he suddenly died. Dr. Paley was in- clined to corpulency, and his countenance was no index of the intellectual and moral attributes — the suavity, benevolence, strong good sense, and clear judgment that distinguished him. Among his friends no man was more highly or more justly esteemed than Dr. Paley; his literary attainments were exceeded only by his many amiable traits of frankness and good-humor. In matters of opinion he was liberal-minded and chari- table. He was a friend to free inquirj' and an able sup- porter of the principles of civil liberty, as we have seen above in his position on the slave-trade. In his tlicology he was suspected of heterodoxy, having manifested a strong inclination to Arian sentiments. As a writer, he is distinguished not so much for originality as for that power of intellect by which he grasps a subject in all its bearings, and handles it in a manner entirely his own; for the consummate skill with which he disposes and follows out his argument, and for a style peculiarly suited to philosophical investigations — strong, exact, and clear, and abounding in words and phrases which, though sometimes homely, express and illustrate his meaning most forcibly and most distincth'. Sir James Mackintosh, who is not always ready to endorse Paley's philosophical teachings, gives this enthusiastic com- mendation of Paley as an author : " This excellent writ- er, who, after Clarke and Butler, ought to be ranked among the brightest ornaments of the English Church in the 18th century, is in the history of philosophy naturally placed after Tucker, to whom, with praise- worthy liberality, he owns his extensive obligations. , . . His style is as near perfection in its kind as any in our language" (H'o?7i« [1854], i, 183). The greatest and most important of Paley's works is The Principles of Moral and Political I'hilosophy 0785; with Dissertations and Notes by Alexander Bain, 1853; annotated by Richard Whately, 185;)), The general outlines of it had been delivered as lectures to his pupils when he was a tutor in the university. In the first part of the '-Principles," which treats of moral philosophy only (after giving some account of the law of honor, the