218 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 



a signal proof in his " Apology 

 for Christianity ;" being a series of 

 letters addressed to Mr. Gibbon 

 as a reply to his attaclis on that 

 religion in his Decline and Fall, 

 which the historian himself de- 

 clared to be the most polite and 

 liberal of all those by which he was 

 encountered, and a perfect con- 

 trast to the polemical exertions of 

 some of his antagonists. His 

 " Collection of Theological Tracts 

 selected from various Authors for 

 the use of the younger Students 

 in the University," likewise dis- 

 played the enlargement of his 

 sentiments with respect to con- 

 troverted points of Christian doc- 

 trine. 



Dr. Watson, who published 

 a sermon entitled " The Princi- 

 ples of the Revolution Vindicated," 

 had openly taken his part in the 

 state as well as in the church ; 

 and when the Rockingham admi- 

 nistration was formed in 1782, he 

 was raised through the recom- 

 mendation of the Duke of Rut- 

 land, to whom he had been tutor 

 at college, to the episcopal bench 

 in the see of Landaff. With this 

 bishopric, the poorest in the king- 

 dom, he was allowed to hold his 

 other preferments, among which 

 was a valuable rectory presented 

 by the Duke of Rutland ; and 

 upon the whole, his church emo- 

 luments were considerable. He 

 now entirely renounced his che- 

 mical pursuits, as a sacrifice to 

 his prelatic dignity ; but he col- 

 lected in five small volumes all 

 his essays and experiments rela- 

 tive to the subject, some of which 

 were papers in the Philosophical 

 Transactions communicated by 

 him as a member of the Royal 



Society. These volumes were 

 very favourably received, and are 

 j'et perused with advantage, not- 

 withstanding the great change in 

 the theory of the science. 



His open and zealous attach- 

 ment to the political principles of 

 the whigs was probably the cause 

 why, during a long possession of 

 the prelacy, he was never trans- 

 lated from Landaff when the in- 

 fluence of that party had declin- 

 ed. His episcopal functions could 

 scarcely be exercised in a see 

 where there was no place of resi- 

 dence for a bishop, yet he deli- 

 vered and published occasional 

 charges to his clergy. He also 

 continued to give to the world 

 tracts on important subjects, af- 

 fording matter for literary and 

 ])olitical memoirs which would fill 

 an interesting volume. The high 

 regaid with which he inspired his 

 academic pupils, was evinced by 

 a considerable accession to his 

 fortune from a bequest of Mr. 

 Luther, of Essex, to whom he 

 had been tutor. He passed the 

 evening of his life chiefly at his 

 seat of Calgarth in Westmorland, 

 Avhere he actively employed him- 

 self in rural decorations and agri- 

 cultural improvements. His man- 

 ners were simple, with much 

 equality of temper. He left a 

 numerous family. 



5. At St. Cloud, near Paris, Mrs. 

 Jordan, a celebrated actress, con- 

 sidered as unrivalled on the Eng- 

 lish stage for perfect nature with 

 ai'ch simplicity in comic charac- 

 ters. With foibles in her conduct, 

 she possessed a generous and be- 

 nevolent heart. 



7. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 

 whose character and talents have 



for 



