258 Biographical Account of [Aprit, 
attention to the study of chemistry, Dr. Paley boasted at the time 
that he was better acquainted with it than Dr. Watson; for he could 
perform one chemical process at least, since he knew how to make 
red ink; while his antagonist, he believed, did not know so much. 
Dr. Watson, however, carried the election; and began the study 
of practical chemistry with so much assiduity, that he very mate- 
rially injuredhis health. I have been frequently amused with the 
history of his first chemical campaign. He could not succeed in 
his earliest attempts at experimenting. His retorts broke, his liquids 
were spilled, his clothes were spoiled. But by perseverance he at 
last got the better of his awkwardness, and acquired the art of ex- 
perimenting with ease and elegance. 
In 1767 he became one of the head tutors of Trinity College ; 
and in October, 1771, he was appointed Regius Professor of Divi- 
nity, with the Rectory of Somersham, in Huntingdonshire, an- 
nexed. In 1774, he was presented to a prebend in the church of 
Ely; and in January, 1780, he succeeded Dr, Charles Plumtre in 
the archdeaconry of that diocese. 
He had been tutor to the late Duke of Rutland when his Grace 
resided at Cambridge, In 1782 the Duke presented him to the 
valuable Rectory of Knaptoft, Leicestershire; and in the same 
year, through the recommendation of the same nobleman, he was 
advanced to the Bishoprick of Llandaff. In consequence of the 
smallness of the revenues of this Bishoprick, Dr. Watson was 
allowed to hold with it the Archdeaconry of Ely, his Rectory in 
Leicestershire, the Divinity Professorship, and the Rectory of 
Somersham. This Bishoprick was the last of his preferments. 
Though it is the poorest in the gift of the Crown, and though Dr. 
Watson was without doubt one of the greatest ornaments of the 
Bench of Bishops, and though his scientific and theological know- 
ledge, the urbanity of his manners, and his uniform zeal for re- 
ligion, would have made him fill with honour the first place in the 
English church, yet there were some circumstances which effec- 
tually prevented his promotion. 
He had early associated himself with the political party known in 
Great Britain by the name of Whigs. During the King’s illness in 
1789, when the Regency Bill was before Parliament, he took an 
active part in advocating the right of the Prince of Wales to be 
appointed Regent, without limitation. During the American war 
he had been equally hostile to the ministerial party at that time in 
power, and argued the cause of the Americans with zeal and 
ability. At the commencement of the war with revolutionary 
France he was equally an enemy to hostilities ; though long before 
the termination of that memorable struggle he had become sensible 
of its necessity, and urged its continuance and vigorous pursuit with 
much earnestness and eloquence. ‘Thus his political sentiments 
during almost the whole of his life were at variance with those in 
whom lay the virtual distribution of promotions in the church. It 
] 
