Dr. Paley had been twice married. His second wife, Miss Dobinson of Carlisle, survived him, and died so re cently as March, 1819. He left behind him eight children, four daughters and four sons, of whom William, the eldest, a barrister of great talents, died in 1817, at the premature age of thirty-seven.
Dr. Paley was in stature above the middle size, and, especially in his latter years, rather inclined to corpulen cy. The expression of his countenance was pleasing, yet there was little about it which to a stranger was very deep ly calculated to shadow forth the vigour and versatility of his mind.
His moral character is entitled to praise of the highest kind. In all the private relations of life, the goodness of his heart and the undisguised simplicity of his manners were the objects of universal respect and esteem. As a minister of the gospel, also, his conduct was extremely amiable and exemplary. His devoted attachment to lite rary pursuits he never allowed for a moment to interfere with the conscientious discharge of his sacred duties. He was indeed a pluralist, and the benefit of his example and instructions could not be enjoyed by all with whom he was spiritually connected; but, to use his own expression, he was " a greater pluralist in children," and he uniformly took care that the clergymen placed under him were men of virtue and of faithfulness. It has been frequently insi nuated that his opinions on certain articles of faith were not quite agreeable to the standards of his church. What this difference really was, it would not probably be an easy matter to determine. It is certain, indeed, that in his dis courses he seldom alluded to doctrinal subjects; but a vo lume of his sermons, published since his death, by no means substantiate the charge of heterodoxy that has been so industriously brought against hint.
To his writings the •same degree of praise is due that we have paid to his moral character. " If we do not rank him," says one of his biographers, "among men of origi nal genius, of tasteful imagination, or consummate learn ing, he must be allowed the first place among those whose success has been most extensive in the moral improvement of mankind. Utility (which in his system of ethics consti
tutes the essence of virtue) seems to have been his great ambition ; and it is no light character of his works, that they are all eminently useful. He seems always to have clearly discerned what the age wanted. In all his works he was furnishing a desideratum ; and so wisely did he cal culate on the necessities of the public, that what he pre sented was met with the eager welcome of a seasonable supply." The distinguishing- features of his works are perspicuity and simplicit)—qualities without which ge nius and learning are comparatively useless. He carefully avoids every thing that does not further the result he means to establish, or that may lead him into abstruse or unprofitable discussions. Readers of every class are de lighted with the clearness and satisfactory nature of his reasoning; and none can rise from the perusal ol his works, without feeling reverence for the character ol the author, or having the better feelings of his nature improved and elevated. With regard to his ethical and political princi ples, there may indeed be various opinions, though Dr. Paley himself has rendered them subservient to the most amiable and salutary purposes ; but of his theological writ ings there can be but one sentiment. They are alike pi ous, ingenious, and conclusive ; the most useful, certainly, on the various important subjects of which they treat ; and they will ever entitle their author to a conspicuous place among the benefactors of mankind.
See Memoirs of Dr. Paley, by the late George Wilson Meadey, Esq. and Dr. Paley's Works, with his Life pre fixed, edited by Mr. Alexander Chalmers, Loud. 1821. (T. m.)