eepted an offer to go to Ireland, where he was made judge of the admiralty, commissioner of the prizes, keeper of the records, and vicargeneral to the primate. These posts might have given him full employment, and raised him to affluence; but he spent his time chiefly in conviviality at a country retirement with judge Upton, an intimate acquaintance; of tastes similar to his own. He returned to England in 1708, not at all improved in his fortune, and retired to his student's place in Christ-church college, where he finished his largest poem, an imitation of Ovid's Art of Love, and composed several other pieces. He closely connected himself with the Tory party, and wrote in defence of Dr. Sacheverel. He was likewise concerned as an author or publisher in the periodical paper called "The Examiner;" and such were his services to his party, that Swift, Prior, and others, procured for him the place of gazetteer. The duties of that office, however, appeared so irksome to him, that he soon resigned it; and his constitution being broken by his intemperate habits, he died on Christmas-day, 1712. "Though (says Dr. Johnson) his life had not been without irregularity, his principles were pure and orthodox, and his death was pious." This brief account may suffice of a writer who never passed mediocrity in any of his performances, and who deserves commemoration only from his connexion with the literary and political history of his time. He certainly possessed humour, though of a trivial kind; and some of his tales in verse may be read with amusement. To the higher qualities of poetry he has no pretension. As a prose writer he is forgotten: yet his "Account of the Heathen Gods" was long a popular school-book. Parts of his works have been often printed, and a complete collection of his "Original Works in Prose and Verse," in three vols. 8vo. was edited in 1776 by Mr. John Nichols. Biogr. Britan. Johnson's Lives of the Poets.-A.

KING, WILLIAM, a learned Irish prelate in the seventeenth and former part of the eighteenth century, was the son of a Scotch gentleman settled in Ireland, and born at Antrim, in the province of Ulster, in the year 1650. When he was twelve years old, he was sent to the grammar-school of Dungannon, in the county of Tyrone, where his progress in classical learning reflected credit both on him self and his master; and from that place he was transplanted to Trinity-college, Dublin, in 1667. In this situation he applied to his studies with very commendable diligence, and was

admitted to the degree of B. A. in 1670. He commenced M. A. in 1673; and in the same year was ordained deacon. In the following year he received priest's orders, from Dr.Parker, archbishop of Tuam; who soon afterwards took him into favour, and appointed him his chaplain in 1676. Ecclesiastical honours now began to flow in rapidly upon him. In the year last mentioned, his patron collated him to a prebend in the church of Tuam; and soon afterwards advanced him to the precentorship of the same cathedral. His residence there, however, was not of long duration: for, the archbishop being promoted to the see of Dublin, took the earliest opportunity of removing his favourite near to himself. Accordingly, he preferred him to the office of chancellor of the church of St. Patrick, and to the parish of Warburg, the archbishop's peculiar, in Dublin. During the reign of James II. Mr. King shewed that he was not unworthy of the preferments which had been conferred upon him, by the learning, abilities, and spirit which he displayed, in the defence of the protestant religion, in opposition to Mr. Manby, dean of Londonderry, who had been lately reconciled to the Romish religion. Mr. King published three tracts in this controversy, which continued to the beginning of 1688; and in that year he was elected dean of St. Patrick's. No sooner had the revolution taken place in England, than the dean became active in promoting the same establishment in Ireland, both before and after the landing of king James there in 1689. That prince, fully sensible of the dean's influence, and of the weight of his opposition, confined him twice in the tower of Dublin castle on that account. This did not, however, prevent him from proceeding doctor of divinity that year; and he obtained his liberty soon afterwards. But the Jacobite party continued inveterate against him; and when they failed in an attempt to expose him to the vengeance of the court, by misrepresentation and calumny, they excited their instruments to assault him in the public street, where a musket with a lighted match was levelled at him. He was also frequently disturbed in the performance of divine service at his church; and on one particular day, seven officers who were present swore aloud that they would cut his throat.

Úpon the flight of king James into France, after the battle of the Boyne in the year 1690, and the appointment of a thanksgiving day, for the preservation of king William's person, dean King preached the sermon on that occasion, at St. Patrick's cathedral; and in January 1691,

his zeal and activity in favour of the revolution were rewarded with the episcopal dignity, by his consecration to the see of Derry. A few months after this, he published a piece entitled, "The State of the Protestants in Ireland under the late king James's Government; in which their Carriage towards him is justified, and the absolute Necessity of their endeavouring to be freed from his Government, and of submitting to their present Majesties, is demonstrated." This treatise was so well received by the public, that a third edition of it was published in the year 1692; and bishop Burnet observes, that it was universally acknowledged to be as truly as it was finely written; referring to it, in his History of his own Time, as a full and faithful account. The Jacobites, however, must be excepted from the number of those who applauded it, and one of their champions, Mr. Charles Leslie, wrote an answer to it: but in such a rancorous spirit, that the bishop did not think it worthy of any public reply. In the year 1693, our prelate was appointed one of the royal visitors of the see of Down and Connor, when the bishop of that diocese was suspended by them. As the public tranquillity was now perfectly restored, his lordship applied himself more particularly to the immediate duties of his pastoral care; and finding, upon a review of the state of his diocese, that from the great influx of Scotch colonies into it, the major part of the people were of the presbyterian persuasion, his zeal for the established church induced him to attempt their conversion to the episcopal discipline. With this design he published, in 1694, a treatise entitled, "The Inventions of Men in the Worship of God;" which drew him into a controversy with Mr. Joseph Boyce, a dissent ing minister of Dublin: and the contest was sustained by them, in different publications, for about twelve months, when it terminated, without effectuating the object which his lordship had at heart. The titles of their respective pieces are given in our authorities.

In the year 1702, bishop King published at Dublin his celebrated and very valuable work, entitled "De Origine Mali, &c.," quarto, which was reprinted the same year at London, in octavo. The object of this work is to shew, how all the several kinds of evil with which the world abounds are consistent with the goodness of God, and may be accounted for without the supposition of an evil principle: An abridgment of this book being given by M. Bernard, in his "Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres," for the months of May and June, 1703, it fell into the hands of M. Bayle; who,

VOL. VI.,

perceiving that his favourite Manichean system was in danger of receiving a fatal blow from it, shewed his impatience to step forwards in its defence, by writing, remarks upon the bishop's hypothesis before he had seen his book, or had any other opportunity of forming a judgment concerning it, than what was furnished by M. Bernard's abridgment, and a passage cited by the writers of the "Acta Eruditorum Leipsiæ," which M. Bernard had omitted. These remarks of M. Bayle appeared in the second volume of the "Response aux Questions d'un Provincial," ch. 74. &c. 1706. The first principle of the bishop which the author mentions is, "that God always acts for an end, which end in the creation of the world was to exercise his power, or to communicate his goodness; so that it is only improperly said, that God created all things for his glory." M. Bayle allows this principle; and it is almost the only point in which he agrees with the author. But he denies what the bishop afterwards asserts, namely, that "there is more natural good than evil in the world, and that the establishing of two principles does not remove the difficulty about the origin of evil; because it is as much repugnant to the divine goodness to have created beings which he foresaw would be corrupted by another principle, as to have created those which were corruptible in themselves." M. Bayle also attacks several other of the bishop's principles, which M. Bernard defended with considerable ability; justly complaining of that author, at the same time, for not consulting the bishop's book itself, whence he had mistaken that prelate's meaning in many particulars, and been led to attack him on such principles as he would expressly deny. M. Bayle afterwards replied to M. Bernard; and having procured the bishop's book, made several new observations, which were published in the fifth volume of his "Response," &c. M. Leibnitz, likewise, wrote some remarks upon the bishop's book, which he allowed to be a work full of learning and elegance, observing, that the first four chapters agreed with his own principles, but that he objected against those laid down in the fifth, which treats of human liberty and moral evil. These remarks were published by M. des Maizeaux, in his "Recueil de diverses Pieces sur la Philosophie, &c. par Mess. Leibnitz, Clarke, Newton," &c. vol. iii. 1720. Bishop king did not make any public reply to these opponents during his lifetime: but he left behind him a great number of manuscripts in which he considered their several objections to his system, and laboured to vindi

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cate it from the least cavil; of which papers the substance was communicated to the world, as we shall see at the end of this article.

In the year 1702, also, our prelate was translated to the archbishopric of Dublin; and in 1709, he published a sermon preached before the Irish House of Peers, entitled, "Divine Predestination and Foreknowledge consistent with the Freedom of Man's Will," in which he advanced a doctrine concerning the moral attributes of God, as being different from the moral qualities of the same name in man. This doctrine was attacked both by Dr. John Edwards and Mr. Anthony Collins; with whom the archbishop did not enter into controversy, but left his answer to all the objections against his general scheme, of which this was a part, among the manuscripts to which we have above alluded. In the year 1717, archbishop King was appointed one of the lords justices of Ireland; and he held the same office in the years 1721 and 1723. He died at his palace at St. Sepulchre's, in Dublin, May 8th, 1729, when he wanted but a week of completing his seventy-ninth year. He was a prelate of great abilities and learning, steadily attached to the principles of the revolution, sincerely desirous of advancing the interests of religion, zealous for the prosperity of the establishment to which he belonged, and of an unblemished and exemplary moral character. He was also distinguished for wit as well as learning; and it is said, that when Dr. Lindsey, the primate of Ireland, died, he claimed the primacy, as a preferment to which he had a kind of right, from his station in the see of Dublin, and from his acknowledged character in the church. Neither of these reasons, however, prevailed; it being pretended that he was too far advanced in years to be removed. This pretended reason for setting him aside, was as little agreeable as the refusal: but the archbishop had no opportunity of shewing the sense which he entertained of this treatment, excepting to the new primate, Dr. Boulter. Him he received at his own house, and in his dining-room, without rising from his chair; but making this apology, in his usual strain of wit, "My lord, I am certain your grace will forgive me, because know I am too old to rise." He appears to have been a sincere friend to dean Swift, and strongly pressed him not to employ his time in literary trifles, but on some work worthy of his genius and of his profession. Besides the pieces mentioned in the preceding narrative, Dr. King published several single sermons, preached on public occasions. After his death,

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his manuscripts were communicated to Mr. Edmund Law, M. A. fellow of Christ's-colleges in Cambridge, and afterwards bishop of Carlisle, who had translated the treatise "De Origine Mali," and written notes upon it. From these papers he extracted the substance of the additions and improvements left to be incorporated in the original work, and comprehending answers to the objections preferred against it, which he published in a second edition of his translation, under the following title: "An Essay on the Origin of Evil, by Dr. William King, late Lord Archbishop of Dublin; translated from the Latin, with Notes; and a Dissertation concerning the Principle and Criterion of Virtue, and the Origin of the Passions. The second Edition. Corrected and enlarged from the Author's Manuscripts. To which are added, two Sermons by the same Author; the former concerning divine Prescience; the latter on the Fall of Man, never before published." Two vols. 8vo. 1729. Biog. Brit. Gen. Dict. Brit. Biog.-M.

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KIPPIS, ANDREW, a learned and eminent. English non-conformist divine, and biographer, was descended both by the father's and mother's side from ejected ministers, and born at Nottingham, on the 28th of March, 1725. The death of his father, when he was about five years of age, occasioned his removal to his paternal grandfather's, at Sleaford in Lincolnshire. In this town he received his education in grammar learning, and early exhibited such proofs of abilities and proficiency, as attracted the peculiar notice of Mr. Merrivale, who was pastor of a congregation of dissenters at that place. Of the fine taste and extensive learning of this gentleman, he would often speak in very honourable terms, and would frequently express the grateful sense which he entertained of his obligations to his patronage and friend ship. It was probably owing to this connection with Mr. Merrivale, as well as to his advice and encouragement, that young Kippis directed his views to the profession of a dissenting minister, and to those literary studies in which he afterwards so much excelled. In the year 1741, he was placed in the academy at Northampton, under the care of Dr. Doddridge: a seminary which at that time was in a very high state of reputation and prosperity, and which supplied the pulpits of the dissenters with a number of ministers, equally acceptable and useful in their professional characters, and distinguished by their moral and literary endowments. Mr. Kippis industriously availed himself of the advantages for improvement

which this institution afforded him; and his proficiency and general deportment, secured the affectionate esteem of his tutor, whom he loved and respected as a father. Having in five years completed his academical course of studies, he was invited to become minister to a dissenting congregation at Dorchester; but having at the same time received another invitation to settle at Boston in Lincolnshire, he gave the preference to the latter, and commenced his residence there in September 1746. He continued at Boston till the year 1750, when he removed to Dorking in Surry; and two years afterwards, he accepted of an invitation to succeed Dr. Obadiah Hughes, as pastor of the presbyterian congregation in Long Ditch, now called Prince's-street, Westminster, where he came to reside in October 1753, having in the preceding month entered into the matrimonial connection with miss Elizabeth Bott, the daughter of a merchant at Boston. Mr. Kippis was now fixed in a respectable situation, for which he was admirably well qualified by his literary talents, his ministerial abilities, and his external endowments; and from this time he continued to rise in celebrity, and to take an active part in those useful and honourable connections to which it was the means of introducing him. As pastor of that society, he became a manager of the presbyterian fund, instituted for the assistance of poor congregations in the country in supporting their ministers, and of students for the ministry in their academical education; and in 1762, he was elected a member of Dr. Williams's trust, chiefly for similar purposes, together with the support of the doctor's valuable library: which appointments afforded him opportunities of eminent and extensive usefulness. His connection, likewise, with the general body of protestant dissenting ministers in and about the cities of London and Westminster, and with many charitable institutions established by the liberality of the dissenters, gave him frequent occasion to exercise his talents for the honour and interest of that cause, to which, both by his sentiments and profession, he was zealously attached. In the course of his academical education, by the advice of his excellent tutor, he had been induced to form such an arrangement of his studies, as might qualify him to engage advantageously in the department of private or public tuition. About the year 1762, he had announced among his friends his intention of taking private pupils, and was on the point of entering into engagements with the parents of two or three young

gentlemen; when he was diverted from this design by the offer of a more honourable, though, we may venture to say from the prospects to which he might reasonably look forwards, not so lucrative an employment. Upon the death of the rev. Dr. David Jennings, the trustees of the academy supported by the funds of William Coward, esq. found it necessary to make a new arrangement of tutors in that institution, and were led from his well-known abilities and attainments, to direct their views to Mr. Kippis. Having agreed to accept the proposals which they made to him in the year 1763, he was appointed classical and philological tutor in Coward's academy; and he sustained that office for more than twenty-five years, with singular reputation to himself, and with great benefit to the young persons who were under his care. In the year 1767, he received the degree of doctor of divinity from the university of Edinburgh, on the unsolicited recommendation of the late learned professor Robertson. He was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries, in March 1778; and in June 1779, he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society. In both these societies he was a regular attendant, and a respectable useful member; and he had the honour of being in the council of the former from 1782 to 1784, and of the latter from 1786 to 1787.

In the year 1784, Dr. Kippis's literary engagements had become so numerous, and demanded so much of his attention and time, that he found himself under the necessity of resigning his appointment of tutor in Coward's academy. During the following year the academy itself, which had been a most useful institution, and supplied the liberal dissenters with many ministers of distinguished reputation, was discontinued. This event excited much regret in the minds of many dissenters, who, having reason to believe that the institution was not likely to be revived, made a spirited effort, in the year 1786, to establish a new academy in the neighbourhood of London, for the education of ministers, and other gentlemen intended for civil life. Dr. Kippis was very assiduous in his endeavours to accomplish this laudable design; and, notwithstanding that his numerous engagements rendered it inconvenient to him to fill any official department in it, he at length, though very reluctantly, yielded to the wishes of the subscribers, and consented to be one of the tutors in the new institution. He resigned this office, however, in a few years, on account of the inconvenient distance of Hackney, where the institution was

fixed, from his place of residence, and for private reasons which it is unnecessary to record. From this time he confined his labours to his private studies, and professional duties, enjoying an uninterrupted state of health, and possess ing a degree of constitutional vigour, which flattered his friends with the prospect of a long continuance of his life and usefulness. To their great concern, however, in consequence of a cold which he caught on a journey, he was seized with a fever, which baffled the skill of the most eminent physicians, and terminated in his death, on the fifth of October, 1795, when he had attained the age of seventy years and six months.

Dr. Kippis was eminently distinguished for the virtues and accomplishments which constitute the chief ornament of the human character. His temper was mild and gentle, benevolent and candid; his address and manners polished, easy, and uncommonly conciliating and prepossessing. Though he had acquired a high degree of eminence and reputation, he was without pride or vanity, superciliousness, or self-importance; and he engaged the esteem and love of persons in all ranks and stations of life, by his unaffected humility and modesty, and his engaging courteousness and affability. He possessed superior powers and vigour of mind: a comprehensive understanding, a sound judgment, a retentive memory, a correct imagination, a refined taste, and a great quickness and facility in exerting his faculties on any subject or occasion. These powers he cultivated through life, with great assiduity and perseverance of application; and, by a judicious arrangement of his studies, and regular distribution of his time, attained very high acquirements in the various branches of science and literature. We have seen his diary, from the year 1754 till within sixteen days of his death, in which an account is given of his daily employment, and of the subjects and books which occupied his studies; and it exhibits an astonishing number of the productions of ancient and modern times, which he read with method, attention, and discrimination. The profound and extensive knowledge with which by this means he had furnished his mind, rendered him a most instructing and entertaining companion, and one of the fittest persons imaginable to be consulted for information on any subject which employed his own attention or that of others. Such information he would at any time most readily and cheerfully communicate. As a tutor, he possessed a happy method of conveying instruction, both in his lectures and friendly convers

ation; and his general conduct and demeanour towards his pupils, not only engaged their attention, but secured their respect and warm affection. To young persons, and to young ministers in particular, he was always acces sible; and he took sensible pleasure in assisting them with his advice, in the prosecution of their private studies or public labours. One habit of his particularly deserves the imitation of studious young men: it was that of early rising, to which he had accustomed himself from his youth. This habit was not only highly conducive to his health, but secured to him a large portion of time for improvement, during which he was not liable to be interrupted by any foreign avocations.

Exclusive of the studies more immediately connected with his profession, Dr. Kippis more particularly excelled in his acquaintance with the classics, the belles-lettres, history, and biography. With the history of his own country he was intimately conversant; and to the principles of the British constitution be was zealously attached. He was sensible of the corruptions and abuses which time had introduced into the administration of that admirable system, and he wished well to every temperate constitutional measure for promoting a reformation: but he dreaded anarchy and licentiousness, as much as he detested tyranny and oppression, and in the political disputes which towards the latter part of his life agitated this country, the moderation of his temper and conduct were eminently conspicuous. The cause of genuine, civil, and religious liberty, had in him an enlightened, steady, consistent, temperate friend and advocate. As a divine, his acquaintance with the various branches of theology, and with subjects subservient to the critical study of the scriptures, was very extensive. In the divine original of Christianity he was a firm believer, upon the maturest examination; and of its precepts, his life exhibited a pious, amiable, and edifying illustration. In his theological sentiments he concurred, chiefly, with those who in modern times are distinguished by the name of unitarians; but without approving their appropriation of this title solely to themselves, to the exclusion of others, who are equally careful to offer divine worship only to the one God and Father of all. Controverted topics he scarcely ever introduced into the pulpit; but made such doctrines and duties the subject of his discourses, as have an immediate influence on rectitude of temper and practice. His sermons were always well studied; their style was plain, perspicuous,