P A I 
278 P A L 
prebend of St. Pancras, in the cathedral of St. Paul. 
This was in Auguft 1794; and in a very fhort time he 
was promoted to the fubdeanery of Lincoln, a preferment 
of 7C0I. per ann. by Dr. Prettyman, bifhop of that dio- 
cefe. In January 1795 he proceeded to Cambridge to 
take his degree of D.D. and, before he left that place, he 
was furprifed by a letter from the bifhop of Durham, Dr. 
-Barrington, with whom he had not the fmalleft acquaint¬ 
ance, offering him the valuable'reftory of Bifhop-Wear- 
mouth, eftimated at iacol. a-year. When he waited on 
his new patron to exjppjfs his gratitude, his lordfhip in- 
ftantly interrupted his acknowledgments : “ Not a word,” 
Laid he ; “ you cannot have greater pleafure in accepting 
the living of Bifhop-Weannouth, than I have in offer¬ 
ing it to you.” After reading himfelf in, as a prebend, 
at St. Paul’s cathedral, March 8th, Dr. Paley, for he now 
affumed that title, immediately proceeded to Bifhop- 
Wearmouth, took pofl'eflion of his valuable cure, and then 
returned to Cambridge againft the Commencement, to 
complete the doftor’s degree, and on Sunday July 5th 
preached before the univerfity his fermon “ On the Dan¬ 
gers incidental to the Clerical Charadter.” From this 
time he divided his refidence principally between Lincoln 
and Bifhop-Wearmouth, fpending his fummersat the lat¬ 
ter, and his winters at the former, of thofe places. At 
Bifhop-Wearmouth the principalland-owners, wifhing to 
remove even the probability of future difpute, offered him 
an-annual compenfation for the tythes. He readily ac- 
quiefced, and granted them leafes for his life ; and thus, 
by facrificing any eventual intereft of his own in the 
agricultural improvement of the parifh, avoided one 
great fource of difquietude and vexation. In his wri¬ 
tings he had already reprobated tythes as noxious to cul¬ 
tivation and improvement, and recommended their con- 
verfion into corn-rents, as a practicable and beneficial 
alteration, in which the interefl of all parties might be 
equitably adjufted; and he now afted in conformity to 
thefe principles, leaving to the induftry of his pariiliioners 
its full operation and entire reward. 
'■He now undertook the compofition of his laffc work, 
entitled “Natural Theology ; or, Evidences of the Exift- 
ence and Attributes of the Deity, colleried from the 
Appearances of Nature.” In this he proceeded ver}' 
flowly, and was much interrupted by ill health. This 
work was publifhedin the fummer of 1802. ; it was dedi¬ 
cated to the bifhop of Durham, for the purpofe of making 
the moft acceptable return he was able for a <^reat and 
important benefit conferred upon him. “ A weak, and 
of late a painful, ftate of health,” he fays, in his dedica¬ 
tion, “ deprived me of the power of difcharging the 
duties of my ftation in a manner at ail fuitable either 
to my fenfe of thofe duties, or to my moft anxious wifhes 
concerning them. My inability for the public functions 
of my preAffion, among other confequences, left me 
much atleifure. That ieifure was not to be loft. It was 
only in my ftudy that I could repair my deficiencies in 
the church. It was only through the prefs that I could 
•fpeak. Thefe circumftances, in particular, entitled your 
lordfhip to call upon me for the only fpecies of exertion 
of which I was capable, and difpofed me without hefita- 
tion to obey the call in the heft manner that I could. 
In the choice of a fubjefii I had no place left for doubt : 
the following difcu ion alone was wanted to make up my 
works into a f'yftem ; in which works, fuel) as they are, the 
public hive now before them, the evidences of natural 
religion ; the evidences of revealed religion ; and an ac¬ 
count of the duties that refult from both.” 
Mr. Meadley, to whole work we are greatly indebted 
for the faCts in this article, fays, he faw him for the laft 
time in December 1804. His valuable life was then draw¬ 
ing t'aft towards a clofe ; and the powers of nature, gra¬ 
dually exhaufted by repeated fuffe rings, were becoming 
daily lefs able to refift the force of his difeafe. At length, 
on his return from his annual refidence at Lincoln, early 
hi the month of May 1805, he experienced a very violent 
attack, in which the ufual remedies were found ineffec¬ 
tual. He foon funk under the accumulated influence of 
debility and difeafe. He met the approach of death with 
firmnefs, comforted his afftidled family with the confo- 
lation of that religion which he had fo fuccefsfully taught, 
and on Saturday, May 2.5th, 1805, he breathed his laft. 
His remains were conveyed to Carlifle, and were interred 
in one of the aides of the cathedral by the fide of his 
firft wife, by whom he had eight children, viz. four fons 
and four daughters. His fecond wife furvived him. 
In private life Dr.Paley had nothing of the p'nilofopher 
about him. He entered into little amufements with a de¬ 
gree of ardour, which, when contrafted with the fupe- 
riority of his mind, had a pleafmg eft'eft, and conftituted 
a very amiable trait of his character. He was fond of 
company, which he had extraordinary powers of enter¬ 
taining ; nor was he at any time more happy than when 
communicating the pleafure he could give, by exerting 
his unrivalled talents of wit and humour. No man was 
ever more beloved by his particular friends, or returned 
their affe&ion with greater fincerity and ardour. As a 
divine, the great aim of Dr. Paley’s labours was to main¬ 
tain the authority of the Gol'pel as an authentic revela¬ 
tion, and to enforce the practice of virtue by the fanftions 
of a future life. His views of the Chriftian fyftem were 
at once cheerful and enlightened, and in ftrifl unifon 
with the benevolent fpiritof the founder. As an author, 
he is not remarkable for what is called fine writing; though 
in this he could excel, as is evident from certain parts of 
his Moral Philofophy, and the conclufion of the Natural 
Theology, which contains fome paffages fcarcely to be 
excelled in the Englifh language. He had higher objects 
in view ; he wiflied to inform the underftanding, and im- 
prefs the heart with important truth ; and for thefe pur- 
pofes his ftyle and method are admirably adapted. The 
general charafleriftics of his writings are y plainnefs and 
limplicity; but there is, at the fame time, both in his 
language and his ideas, a peculiarity of manner ftamped 
by the vigour and independence of his mind, which can¬ 
not be borrowed, and which will therefore perpetuate his 
reputation. Dr. Paley was author of feveral other works 
belides thofe referred to ; of thefe Mr Meadley has given 
a complete catalogue. Since his death a collection of 
thirty-five Sermons has been publiftted. In compliance 
with a codicil to his will they were at firft printed and 
given away among the inhabitants of Bifhop- Wearmouth. 
His family have fince acquiefced in the general wifti, and 
prefented them to the world, as-it wouid not have been 
pofiible to have prevented a furreptitious fale of them. 
Monthly and Gent. Mag-. 1805. Meadley's Memoirs of 
Paley, 1810. 
PAL'FA, a town of the duchy of Stiria : eighteen miles 
north of Leoben. 
PAL'FREY, J'. [palefroi, old Fr. Lacombe. “ Cheval 
palefrotin, petit cheval fort et trapu, qui va l’amble.— 
Quand les poetes et les romanciers ont a reprefenter une 
dame (i cheval , ils la mettent toujours Jur le palefroi .”] A 
fmall Iiorfe fit for ladies : it is moftly diftinguifhed in the 
old books from a war-horfe.—The damfel is mounted on 
a white palfrey, as an emblem of her innocence. Addi- 
fon. —The fmiths and armorers on palfreys ride. Dryden. 
Her wanton palfrey all was overfpread 
With tinfel .trappings, W'ovenlikea wave. Spenfer. 
PAL'FREYED, adj. Riding on a palfrey : 
Such dire atchievements fings the bard that tells 
Oipalfrey'd dames, bold knights, and magic fpells. Tickell. 
PAL'FYN (John), a furgeon and anatomift of repu¬ 
tation, was born at Courtray in Flanders in 1649, or the 
following year. He fettled in the practice of his profef- 
fion at Ghent, where he obtained conliderable reputation, 
and gave lectures to a number of pupils. Being extreme¬ 
ly zealous for improvement, he viiited Paris annually, 
and occafionaliy went to Leyden, and even to London, 
to 
