placing him in a situation to provide for their sapport.

As

The other anecdote is still more remarkable. he was once travelling alone, he was accosted by a footpad, who, by the agitation of his voice and manner, appeared to be raw in his profession. After delivering to the man his money and watch, curiosity prompted him to put a question or two to him upon the mo tives which urged him to so desperate a course. The man candidly confessed, that being out of employment, with a wife and children who were perishing for want, despair had forced him to turn robber, but that this was the first act he had been engaged in. Mr. Hill communicated his name and address, and told him if he would call upon him the next day he would see what could be done for him. The man came, and was taken into the service of our divine, with whom he continued until his death. This adventure, it is faid, Mr. Hill related himself in the funeral sermon which he delivered on the death of his domestic. Respecting such circumstances no comment is necessary; they speak for themselves, and will have a powerful effect upon every feeling heart.

This

Mr. Rowland Hill has published several. single sermons and pious tracts, none of which merit notice except the " Journal of a Tour through the North of England and parts of Scotland, in 1798." 8vo. performance is very entertaining, and contains some. curious descriptions of places, persons, and manners. But the freedom with which the author treated the Scotch church gave great offence to the presbyterian clergy,

clergy, and procured the honour of an answer from Dr. Jamieson, a respectable divine of that establish

ment.

Mr. Hill married Miss Mary Tudway, of Somersetshire, by whom he has no issue.

He has a brother in orders, the Rev. Brian Hill, A. M. who is settled in Derbyshire, and performs the duties of a regular parish-priest with distinguished credit. He is the author of some poems of merit, particularly one entitled "Eugenius and Acasto."

DR. JOHN LAW,

BISHOP OF ELPHIN.

IT has often been observed, that where nature has bestowed great powers, the love of fame burns with a proportionate ardour, and that the exertions of men. of genius are called forth and rewarded by the admiration which they naturally excite. The observation has been made and received with greater confidence, because the characters which confirm it are by their nature prominent and press themselves on our regard, while those which contradict it delight to retire from public view, and do not enter with their proper weight into our considerations. But an attentive survey of life will discover many who, though distinguished by their powers and attainments, do not seek for happiness in the applause of mankind, but preferring a calm repose to turbulent enjoyments, decline the honours which are placed within their reach. To the num

1802-3.

M

ber

ber of these is to be added the subject of the following memoir.

Dr. John Law, Bishop of Elphin, was born at Greystoke, in Cumberland, in 1745. His father, Dr. Edmund Law, the late Bishop of Carlisle, was at that time rector of Greystoke, to which he had been presented by the university of Cambridge, in 1737. In 1743 he was created Archdeacon of Carlisle, and in 1746 removed to Salkeld, another village in Cumberland, of which the rectory is annexed to the archdeaconry, where the early years of the Bishop of Elphin were spent.

In this retirement it is probable that Dr. Law bestowed a considerable part of his time on the education of his children. The Bishop of Elphin was sent at an early age to the Charter-house, and we may conclude that he went very well prepared by the instructions of his father. From the Charter-house, where he enjoyed the benefit of the foundation, he removed to Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1762. At school he was greatly distinguished by the elegance both of his prose and poetical compositions. The carly productions of great men have an interest which is independent of their merit; but the loss of some pieces which the Bishop of Elphin wrote when very young is lamented by his friends, with a warmth of regret which only uncommon excellence could have excited.

At Cambridge he found that those who directed the pursuits of the place gave a decided preference to the mathematical sciences: they of course became,

from

from this reason, the principal subjects of his studies, and he afterwards pursued them with additional ardour, from the pleasure which they afforded him. The advances which he made while an under-graduate in the knowledge of fluxions, and the other higher parts of analytics, were very uncommon. At the senate-house examination, after a severe contest, Mr. Arnald, of St. John's, was placed first on the list of wranglers, and the Bishop of Elphin the second; it being declared that Mr. Arnald's place was in some measure owing to his having read without a private tutor, while the Bishop of Elphin had been assisted by the late Judge Wilson, one of the ablest men in the university: an arrangement with which, and with its reason, the Bishop of Elphin was very much discontented.

After he had taken his bachelor's degree, he was a candidate for one of the Chancellor's medals, which are adjudged annually to the best proficients in classical learning, who have not ranked lower in the tripos than senior-optimes.* These medals, it is supposed, were never more powerfully contested than in this year. Dr. Law obtained the first. It is understood that he obtained it decisively, and that the abilities of his antagonists added to the honour, but not to the danger of his victory.

Mr. Arnald was the senior wrangler of his year, was a man of great powers, and though inferior in mathematical genius to Dr. Law, had used such ex

⚫ See Dr. Milner's account of his brother, who was the second medallist of the year.

M 2

ertions,

ertions, and bent them with that singleness to the point of the senate-house examination, as to be fully entitled to the situation which he attained. His conceptions were in an uncommon degree quick and clear, and his memory made whatever he had once acquired always his own. Though not gifted with the powers which can extend the bounds of mathematics, he possessed that taste which perceives the beauty of the science, and can improve the inventions of others: a copiousness and elegance of expression, a peculiar felicity in illustrating and explaining, rendered him an admirable lecturer. From the moment of his commencing bachelor of arts, when merely permitted the undisturbed exertion of his abilitics, he allowed his mother, the widow of a clergyman, 2001. per annum. He soon became fellow and tutor of St. John's College. When the establishment for the education of the Prince of Wales was formed, he was appointed sub-tutor to his Royal Highness. This situation placed in his prospect the greatest preferments of the church, which he already grasped with the most lively ambition. A canonry of Windsor was scarcely bestowed on him, when all his hopes were crushed by the heaviest calamity incident to humanity, the loss of reason. He has now languished many years in a state too dreadful for description, and nothing is left to his friends but to wish that death may put a speedy termination to his sufferings.

The exertions of Dr. Law were rewarded by his college with the first fellowship which they could give him, and the reputation which he had established