bishop of Peterborough, was the son of a respectable citizen of London, and was born in the parish of St Ann, near Aldersgate, in the year 1632. Having laid a proper foundation of classical learning in St Paul's school, he was removed to Magdalen College, Cambridge, where in due time he took his degrees in arts, and obtained a fellowship. He took the degree of A.B. in 1653; and having proceeded A.M. in 1656, he was next year incorporated to the same degree in the university of Oxford. For some time he applied himself

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1 *Diggia Britannica*, vol. iv., p. 538. to the study of physic; and although he did not adhere to this profession, he retained his knowledge of anatomy and medicine. Mr Payne informs us that "he distinguished himself, whilst he was a fellow of the college, by the performance of his academical exercises. He went out bachelor of divinity at a publick commencement; and tho' it was hardly known that the same person performed those great exercises twice, yet such was the expectation he had raised, that he was afterwards solicited to keep the act at another publick commencement for his doctor's degree." He took the degree of B.D. in 1663, and that of D.D. in 1680. Two of his contemporaries and intimate friends were Dr Hezekiah Burton, a worthy clergyman, "who was early lost to his family, his acquaintance, and the world," and Dr Hollings, who settled as a physician at Shrewsbury, and was there held in universal esteem. There were other members of the same college with whom he likewise cultivated a particular acquaintance; and among these were Sir Samuel Moreland, who was distinguished by his knowledge of mathematics, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, who became keeper of the great seal, and Mr Pepys, who for many years was secretary to the admiralty, and who is well known by his posthumous Memoirs.

To this academical connexion he appears to have been in a great measure indebted for his subsequent advancement in the church. When Bridgeman was appointed lord keeper, he nominated Cumberland and Burton as his chaplains, nor did he afterwards neglect the interest of either. Cumberland's first preferment was the rectory of Brampton in Northamptonshire, which was bestowed upon him in 1658 by Sir John Norwich. He then quitted the university, and went to reside on his benefice, where he zealously devoted himself to the duties of his sacred office, and to the prosecution of those abstruse studies to which he had long been addicted. His chief relaxation consisted in occasional excursions to Cambridge, for the purpose of maintaining those lettered friendships which he had formed in early life, and probably for the purpose of consulting such books as his own library could not supply. In 1661 he was appointed one of the twelve preachers of the university. His character was very remote from that of a preferment-hunter; and in this unambitious retirement he might have spent the remainder of his life, if the lord keeper, who obtained his office in 1667, had not invited him to London, and soon afterwards bestowed upon him the rectory of Allhallows at Stamford. In this new situation, he acquired new credit by the fidelity with which he discharged his important functions. In addition to his ordinary duties, he undertook the weekly lecture, and thus was obliged to preach thrice every week in the same church. This labour he constantly and assiduously performed, and in the mean time found sufficient leisure, as well as inclination, to prosecute his scientific and philosophical studies.

At the mature age of forty, he published his earliest Cumberland work, entitled "De Legibus Naturae Disquisitionis philosophica, in qua cura Forma, summa Capita, Ordo, Promulgatio, et Obligatio e Rerum Natura investigatori; quin etiam Elementa Philosophiae Hobbianae, cum moralis tum civilis, considerantur et refutantur." Lond. 1672, 4to. It is dedicated to Sir Orlando Bridgeman, and is prefaced by an "Alloquium ad Lectorem," contributed by the author's friend Dr Burton. Cumberland's treatise is evidently the production of an acute and philosophical mind, and entitles him to a very respectable place among writers on the principles of natural law; but his speculations are not entirely free from that indistinctness which is too prevalent among those who have undertaken similar enquiries. His arguments are chiefly directed against the Epicurean laxity of Hobbes, whose writings on the elements of morality and politics, though of a very debasing tendency, made a strong impression on his contemporaries. His system was now opposed by another, which comprehends a more pleasing view of man in his moral and social relations. "The most universal love, or most diffusive benevolence, of all rational beings towards each other, constitutes the happiest state they can be capable of; so that their endeavour of the common good, by this benevolence, is the sum of all the laws of nature, and in which they are all contained."

Cumberland's treatise De Legibus Naturae appeared during the same year with that of Pufendorf De Jure Naturae et Gentium, which was printed at Lund, where the author was then a professor. This work of the English divine was highly commended in a subsequent publication of the German lawyer; and his weighty suffrage must have had the effect of making it known on the continent. The book was reprinted at Lübeck in 1683, and again in 1694. It was likewise reprinted at Dublin. The style of the learned author has no particular recommendations; and as his work was printed in London while he was residing at Stamford, the first edition contains many typographical errors; nor are they removed in the subsequent editions. Dr Bentley afterwards undertook to revise the entire text, and, according to his grandson's account, he most effectually performed this task; but Barbeyrac, who had the use of the corrected copy, and who was a more competent judge of its value, entertained a less favourable opinion. This copy is now in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. The author's family intended to publish a splendid edition of the work, but their landable design was never executed.

Mr Tyrrell, who was the grandson of Archbishop Usher, and is himself well known as a writer on history and politics, digested Cumberland's doctrines into a new form, and published a considerable volume under the following title: "A brief Disquisition of the Law of Nature, according to the Principles and Method laid down in the Reve-

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1 Cantabrigiensis Graduati, p. 113. Cantab. 1690, 4to. 2 "Quantum tamen mihi constat," says Pufendorf in allusion to Hobbes, "ipsius hypothesein inter Anglos solidissime destruit Richardus Cumberlandus, libro erudito et ingenioso de Legibus Naturae; simulque adversam hypothesen, quae ad Stoicorum placita proxime accedit, firmissime adstruxit." (Specimen Controversiarum circa Jus Naturale ipsi nuper motarum, cap. i. § 6.) This tract is reprinted in the author's Eris Scandia. Francof. 1666, 4to. And it may likewise be found in Mascou's edition of his work De Jure Naturae et Gentium. Francof. et Lips. 1759, 2 toms. 4to. 3 Sir James Mackintosh, in his Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, p. 323, has inadvertently stated that Cumberland was the only professed answerer of Hobbes. Some of this philosopher's notions on the principles of natural law were discussed by George Lawson, rector of Mere in the county of Salop, who published "An Examination of the Political Part of Mr Hobbs Leviathan." Lond. 1657, 4vo. His speculations were formally opposed by Roger Coke, in a volume which bears the following title: "Justitia vindicatae et falsae faciei, ut supra est Thomas Whitley, seu Mr Thomas Hobbs, et Hugo Grotius: seu also Elementa de Potestate et Subjectione, wherein is demonstrated the Cause of all human Christian, and legal Society." Lond. 1690, 6to. A Dutch clergyman, Gijsbert Coquinas, doctor of philosophy, afterwards published "Hobbes refutatus, sive Vindiciae pro Lege, Imperio, et Religione, contra Tractatus Thomas Hobbesian, quibus tit. de Cive et Leviathan." Ulmijecti, 1668, 12mo. The same divine is likewise the author of a book entitled "Vindiciae pro Religione in Regno Dei Naturali, contra Hobbes de Cive, cap. 15. Leviathan, cap. 31." Ultraj. 1668, 12mo. rend Dr Cumberland's (now Lord Bishop of Peterborough's) Latin treatise on that subject; as also his Confutations of Mr Hobbs's Principles put into another method: with the Right Reverend Author's approbation." Lond. 1692, 8vo. Another edition appeared in 1701. A complete English version of the original work was published by John Maxwell, A.M., prebendary of Connor, under the title of "A Treatise of the Laws of Nature," &c. Lond. 1727, 4to. And at a more recent period, a French translation was executed by the learned Barbeyrac, who likewise enriched his native language by transposing into it the great works of Grotius and Pufendorf. "Traité philosophique des Lois Naturelles, &c. traduit du Latin, par Monsieur Barbeyrac, Docteur en Droit, et Professeur en la même Faculté dans l'Université de Groningue : avec des notes du traducteur, qui a joint celles de la traduction Angloise." Amsterdam, 1744, 4to.

Having thus established a solid reputation, Dr Cumberland next prepared a work on a very different subject: "An Essay towards the Recovery of the Jewish Measures and Weights, comprehending their Monies; by help of ancient standards, compared with ours of England: useful also to state many of those of the Greeks and Romans, and the Eastern Nations." Lond. 1686, 8vo. This work, which is dedicated to his friend Mr Pepys, obtained a copious notice from Le Clerc, and was translated into French. Some of the author's opinions were controverted without any mention of his name, in a work published two years afterwards by Dr Bernard, professor of astronomy at Oxford, a man of extensive and various erudition. We are informed that he "wrote some sheets to justify his calculations; but his aversion to anything like wrangling made him lay them by, and leave his book to shift for itself."

About this period, he was greatly depressed, like many other good men, by apprehensions respecting the growth of popery; but his apprehensions were at length dispelled by the Revolution, which likewise brought along with it another material change in his circumstances. In the course of the year 1691, he went, according to his custom on a post-day, to read the newspaper at a coffee-house in Stamford, and there, to his great surprise, he read that the king had nominated Dr Cumberland to the bishopric of Peterborough. This mode of bestowing high preferment upon eminent and unobtrusive merit, must appear not a little singular to those who are chiefly acquainted with ecclesiastical proceedings in more recent times. The face of the bishop elect was scarcely known at court, and he had resorted to none of the usual methods of advancing his temporal interest. It is stated by his biographer that if the clergy had retained their ancient privilege of electing their bishop, they would have made no other choice. "Being then sixty years old," says his great-grandson, "he was with difficulty persuaded to accept the offer, when it came to him from authority. The persuasion of his friends, particularly Sir Orlando Bridgeman, at length overcame his repugnance; and to that see, though very moderately endowed, he for ever after devoted himself, and resisted every offer of translation, though repeatedly made and earnestly recommended. To such of his friends as pressed an exchange upon him he was accustomed to reply, that Peterborough was his first espoused, and should be his only one; and, in fact, according to his principles, no church revenue could enrich him; for I have heard my father say, that, at the end of every year, whatever overplus he found upon a minute inspection of his accounts was by him distributed to the poor, reserving only one small deposit of twenty-five pounds in cash, found at his death in his bureau, with directions to employ it for the discharge of his funeral expenses: a sum, in his modest calculation, fully sufficient to commit his body to the earth."

To the duties of his new station he applied himself with great assiduity. He was a person of studious and retiring habits, nor did the natural calmness of his temper peculiarly fit him for the task of governing others; but if he erred in practising too much lenity towards those who were placed under his jurisdiction, he shewed no disposition to consult his own ease in the discharge of his various functions. His charges to the clergy are described as plain and unambitious, the earnest breathings of a pious mind. His old age was fresh and vigorous, nor did he discontinue his episcopal visitations till after he attained his eightieth year. When Dr Wilkins published the New Testament in Coptic, he presented a copy to the bishop, who began to study the language after he had completed the age of eighty-three. "At this age," says his chaplain, "he master'd the language, and went thro' great part of this version, and would often give me excellent hints and remarks, as he proceeded in reading of it." He died in 1718, in the eighty-seventh year of his age: he was found sitting in his library, in the attitude of one asleep, and with a book in his hand.

Bishop Cumberland was eminently distinguished by his gentleness and humility. He was of a temper so cool and sedate, that it could not be roused to anger; and through the whole course of his life, his soul is represented as having been in a constant state of calmness and serenity, hardly ever ruffled by any passion. The theory which he maintains in his principal work, is founded on benevolence, and it naturally flowed from the habitual temperament of the author's mind. He was a man of a sound understanding, improved by extensive learning, and has left behind him several monuments of his talents and industry.

The care of his posthumous publications devolved upon his domestic chaplain Mr Payne, who soon after the bishop's death edited "Sanchoiniatho's Phrenician History, translated from the first book of Eusebius De Preparatione Evangelica: with a Continuation of Sanchoiniatho's History by Eratosthenes Cyreneus's Canon, which Dicaearchus connects with the first Olympiad. These authors are illustrated with many historical and chronological remarks, proving them to contain a Series of Phrenician and Egyptian Chronology, from the first man to the first Olympiad, agreeable to the Scripture Accounts." Lond. 1720, 8vo.

The preface contains an account of the life, character, and writings of the author, which was likewise published in a separate form, and exhibits a pleasing picture of his happy old age. The work itself is learned and elaborate, and the researches of such a man could not be entirely fruitless; but there is a material defect in the general design, inasmuch as it takes for granted the genuineness of a book which has very frequently been considered as spurious. It was treated as a fabrication by several of Cumberland's contemporaries, and, among others, by Dodwell and Van Dale; nor is there much hazard in averring that it might now be more difficult to find many individuals of

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1 Bibliothèque Universelle, tom. v. p. 149. 2 Edvardi Bernardii de Mensuris et ponderibus Antiquis libri tres, editio altera. Oxonie, 1693, 8vo. 3 Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, written by himself, p. 3. Lond. 1696, 4to. 4 A. van Dale Dissertatio super Sanchoiniathone, subjuncta ad Dissertatio super Aristen de LXX. Interpretibus. Amst. 1740.—The learned Huet, who is sufficiently sceptical when it suits his particular views, feels no hesitation in admitting the genuineness of the work ascribed to Sanchoiniathone: "Sanchoiniathone autem Trojanum bellum multis praecessisse annis, ad Mosis irrum..." Cumberland, critical learning inclined to adopt the bishop's opinion.

The Phoenician History, of which some portion is preserved by Eusebius, was published in Greek by Philo Byblius as a version from the Phoenician tongue, and was produced by Porphyry as a composition of great antiquity. "I cannot but think," says Dodwell, that "this author counterfeited purposely with a design of confronting the antiquity of the Scripture. But who was the impostor, whether Philo Byblius or Porphyry, that I confess I cannot easily determine." The book in which this passage occurs was published many years before the death of Cumberland, and was written by a person of much reputation for his learning. It is therefore obvious that a critical enquiry respecting the genuineness of the history ought to have preceded an attempt to draw any arguments from its details. A German translation appeared under the title of "Cumberlands Phönizische Historie des Sanchoniathos, übersetzt von Joh. Phil. Cassel." Magdeburg, 1755, 8vo. The sequel to this work of the venerable bishop was likewise published by Mr Payne: "Origines Gentium antiquissime; or, Attempts for discovering the Times of the first Planting of Nations: in several Tracts." Lond. 1724, 8vo.

The author left an only son, who bore the same name, and belonged to the same profession: he was rector of Peakirk, in the diocese of Peterborough, and archdeacon of Northampton. One of the bishop's daughters married his faithful chaplain, S. Payne, A. M. rector of Barnack, and afterwards an archdeacon. The bishop's son, who inherited an estate which descended from his grandfather, had two sons and a daughter. The latter was married to Waring Asby, Esq. of Quenby Hall in the county of Leicester. Richard, the elder son, died unmarried at the age of twenty-nine. The younger, named Denison from his mother, married Joanna the daughter of Dr Bentley, and became successively bishop of Clonfert and Killmore. He was the father of the late Richard Cumberland.

Cumberland, Richard, a dramatic and miscellaneous writer, was born at Cambridge on the 29th February 1722. He was the great-grandson of the Bishop of Peterborough, and he first saw the light under the roof of his maternal grandfather, Dr Bentley, in the master's lodge, Trinity College. When he had completed his sixth year, he was sent to the school at Bury St Edmunds, but for some time he made little progress in his learning, and it cost the master some trouble to awaken in him a proper spirit of emulation. This, however, was at length accomplished by publicly reproving him for his negligence; and, being thus roused to exertion, he soon found his tasks a pleasure rather than a burden. Whilst he remained at this school his grandfather Bentley died, and he was thereby deprived of the advantage which he might otherwise have reaped from the guidance and direction of the ablest scholar of the age. In his school exercises young Cumberland describes himself as aiming at something like fancy and invention; but this tendency seems to have betrayed him into grammatical inaccuracies which did him little credit with his master, and indeed exposed him to comments which he felt most acutely. He was not, however, very greatly discouraged by these strictures; for having made an excursion with his family, during the summer holidays, to visit a relation in Hampshire, he wrote a poem on the subject, in which he introduced a description of the docks at Portsmouth, and of the races at Winchester. This being his first regular attempt in English verse, he exhibited it to his father, who received it with unreserved commendation, and persisted, with pardonable partiality, in reciting it to his friends long after the author had gained experience enough to wish it consigned to oblivion. From the school of Bury St Edmunds young Cumberland was transferred to Westminster, where he remained about a year and a half, and profited much, particularly in point of composition. He was then sent to Cambridge, where he was admitted of Trinity College when he was only in his fourteenth year. At first he had two tutors, who paid little attention to his studies; but this inconvenience being soon felt, the head master, Dr Smith, in the last year of his undergraduate condition, recommended him to lose no time in preparing for his degree, and to apply closely to his studies during the remainder of the year. He did so, and worked with such indefatigable perseverance, that though his health suffered severely in consequence, a high station was adjudged him among the wranglers of his year, and he obtained his bachelor's degree. This was in the year 1750. With the return of health he resumed his studies, and, without neglecting those in which he had recently been engaged, recurred to the authors who had lain untouched during his course of academical preparation.

Cumberland had early accustomed himself to read upon system, and now began to form collections on the various subjects of his pursuits. With this view he got together the different tracts relative to the celebrated controversy between Boyle and Bentley respecting the epistles of Phalaris, omitting none of the authorities and passages referred to, and compressed the reasonings on both sides into a sort of digest or report upon the question in dispute. But he was perhaps more agreeably employed in reading the Greek tragedies; and when Mason published his Elfrida, he planned and wrote, in imitation of that drama, a production of which Caractacus was the hero, with a chorus consisting of bards and druids. About this time, his health being still indifferent, he accompanied his family in an excursion to York, where he passed half a year in the society and amusements of the place; hunting in the mornings, dancing in the evenings, and devoting but little time to study. Having got hold of the Faery Queen, however, he began at intervals to write stanzas in the Spenserian measure; and he also composed short elegies in the same manner; but his mother having disapproved of these occupations, he relinquished them, and prepared to devote himself to more serious pursuits.

On his return to college young Cumberland was invited to the master's lodge by Dr Smith, who informed him of a new arrangement which had been determined on for annulling as much of the existing statutes as restricted all bachelors except those of the third year's standing, from becoming candidates for fellowships; and recommended him to present himself for examination, as, at the next election, he would be in the second year of his degree. Grateful for this friendly advice, he was preparing to resume his studies with increased alacrity, when he received an invitation from Lord Halifax to become private and confidential secretary to that nobleman. He accordingly proceeded to town, where he remained some time, and afterwards... returned to Cambridge, where, after a severe examination, he was elected fellow, along with Mr Orde, afterwards a master in Chancery, to the exclusion of two candidates of the year above them. On his return to town he lived as retired as if he had been still resident in his college. His first offering to the press, which appeared about this time, was a churchyard elegy in imitation of Gray's, but, as might be expected, greatly inferior in poetical merit. It seems to have made almost no impression. "The public," he observes, "were very little interested with it, and Dodsley as little profited." Whilst he was with Lord Halifax he met with Mr Charles Townshend, then one of the lords of trade, to whom he first recommended himself by the solution of some enigma or puzzle, and afterwards by revising and writing remarks on a report drawn up by Mr Townshend, which had been put into his hands for that purpose. About this time also he employed himself in collecting materials for a poem in heroic verse on the subject of India; but the design he afterwards abandoned as unsuitable; a circumstance which, judging from the specimen preserved in his Memoirs, respecting the discoveries of the Portuguese, can excite but little regret.

About this time he contracted an intimacy with Mr Bubb Dodington, and became a frequent guest at La Trappe, the residence of that eccentric personage, whom he also visited in London. This was perfectly agreeable to Lord Halifax, who not only lived upon intimate terms with Mr Dodington, but was then forming some opposition connections, having resigned his office as first lord of trade and plantations, and detached himself from the Duke of Newcastle's administration. Cumberland also accompanied Mr Dodington to his seat of Eastbury, in Dorsetshire, where he remained some time, and enjoyed ample opportunities of observing the character of his host, of which he has given a very interesting and graphic description in his Memoirs. On his return from Dorsetshire, he offered himself for a lay fellowship, then vacant, in Trinity College, Cambridge, and succeeded in attaining the object of his ambition; but he did not hold it long, owing to the condition of celibacy annexed to it. About this time he produced his first legitimate drama, The Banishment of Cicero, a performance of some merit, but wholly unfit for representation. It was accordingly rejected by Garrick, and published by the author as a dramatic poem in 1761, 4to. In the beginning of 1759, he married Elizabeth, the only daughter of George Ridge, Esq. of Kilmaston, to whom he had paid his addresses on receiving through Lord Halifax an appointment as crown agent for Nova Scotia. On the accession of George III. Cumberland addressed a poem in blank verse to the young sovereign; and when Lord Halifax was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, he accompanied that nobleman as Ulster secretary, while his father was made one of the vice-regal chaplains. This brought him in contact with the celebrated William Gerard Hamilton, better known by the name of Single-speech Hamilton, who, having neither received his appointment from Lord Halifax, nor been in the first instance altogether acceptable to that nobleman, rendered Cumberland's situation exceedingly unpleasant. But the latter, notwithstanding, acquitted himself so well that, towards the close of the session, the lord-lieutenant expressed his satisfaction with Cumberland's services, and offered him a baronetcy, which, however, he judiciously declined; a circumstance which, he thinks, contributed to weaken his interest with Lord Halifax. Why such an honour should have been offered to a young man just commencing the career of public life, and wholly unprovided for, it is not easy to conjecture. It appears, however, that when his patron afterwards became secretary of state, he applied in vain for the situation of under secretary, and only obtained the clerk-

ship of reports in the office of trade and plantations under Cumberland.

The success with which Bickerstaff had brought forward his operas of Love in a Village and The Maid of the Mill, induced Cumberland to attempt a drama of the same description, under the title of The Summer's Tale; but although the music had been composed by Bach, Arne, Arnold, and Simpson, it was performed, with little applause, only for nine or ten nights. Subsequently, however, the author cut it down to an afterpiece in two acts, under the title of Amelia, in which form it met with tolerable success. The drama was published in 1765 and the afterpiece in 1768. His next production was the comedy of The Brothers, which was brought out at Covent-Garden, well received by the audience, and published in 1769. He now began to plan and compose The West Indian, which he completed before leaving Ireland; and on his return to London he entered into an engagement with Garrick to bring it out at his theatre, but he at the same time availed himself of the manager's suggestions, by adding a new scene, and introducing other improvements. This piece, which appeared in 1771, proved eminently successful, although the moral of the plot is far from being unexceptionable. Cumberland next entered the lists of controversy, by publishing a pamphlet containing animadversions upon a character of Dr Bentley, which had been drawn by Bishop Lowth, in a letter addressed to the author of the Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated. This pamphlet passed through two editions, but elicited no reply.

About the same time he was admitted into a literary society, the members of which used to dine together upon stated days at the British coffee-house; and at one of these meetings it was suggested to him to delineate the character of a North Briton, as he had already done those of an Irishman and of a West Indian. He availed himself of the hint, and in consequence drew the character of Colin Macleod in his comedy of The Fashionable Lover; but the attempt, as might have been expected, proved a total failure, owing, no doubt, to the author's entire ignorance of the distinctive peculiarities of the people of whom Colin Macleod was intended to be the representative. This comedy, though in point of composition superior to the West Indian, did not meet with equal success; and the author resented the criticisms made upon it with that sensitive jealousy which latterly induced Garrick to call him "the man without a skin." Throughout his whole life, indeed, he evinced a soreness to criticism, which necessarily exposed him to the very infliction which he dreaded so much and felt so acutely. His comedy of The Choleric Man proved more successful, but exposed him to the charge of venting illiberal and contemptuous sarcasms against his contemporaries; a charge which he endeavoured to rebut by prefixing to the play, when he published it, a "dedication to Detraction, directed chiefly against an Essay on the Theatre," in which a comparison was drawn between laughing and sentimental comedy, and under the latter description some severe observations were pointed against The Fashionable Lover. Cumberland's next dramatic production was Timon of Athens, altered from Shakspeare, in which the parts of Evantho and Alcibiades were, the former nearly, and the latter altogether, new, and which, although it has now fallen into neglect, was favourably received at the time. The entertainment called The Note of Hand, or Trip to Newmarket, was the last of his pieces produced by Garrick, before disposing of his property in Drury-Lane. It is only remarkable as containing another sketch of Hibernian character, though on a smaller scale than the former one. The tragedy entitled The Battle of Hastings was brought out under the direction of Mr Sheridan, and published in 1778. Cumberland's prospects now began to brighten. On Lord George Germaine's accession to office, he was appointed secretary to the board of trade, with an income which could not but be acceptable to the father of six children; and he was particularly noticed by his lordship, who continued his friend and patron till death. He afterwards resided at Tetworth, in Bedfordshire, in the vicinity of Lady Frances Burgoyne, sister of Lord Halifax, and during one of the summer recesses he passed there he wrote his opera of Calypso, which was brought out at Covent Garden with indifferent success. The Widow of Delphi, which he wrote the following season, has never been printed, although the author considered it as one of his very best productions. The Bondsmen, a tragic-comedy, and The Duke of Milan, altered, also remain in manuscript, probably without any great detriment to literature.

In 1780, Cumberland was sent on a confidential mission to the courts of Madrid and Lisbon; but this appointment, however honourable in itself, seems to have been the source of all his future troubles, and to have embittered the remainder of his long life. The direct object of his mission was to induce the court of Spain to enter into a separate treaty with this country; but, although his conduct gave satisfaction to the Spanish court, and procured him the confidence and favour of the Spanish king, yet, owing to the disturbances which at this time broke out in London, and other untoward circumstances, he failed in accomplishing the object of his mission, and was recalled, in 1781, after having contracted, in the public service, a debt of nearly L5000, which Lord North's ministry meanly refused, or at least neglected to pay, and which ultimately absorbed the whole of his hereditary property. It has been asserted indeed that he exceeded his powers, and compromised the ministry which had employed him; but of this no evidence whatever has been produced, and the losses to which he was subjected certainly amounted to a punishment much too severe for a mere error in judgment. It appears, in fact, that on his journey homewards his bills were stopped, and his credit rendered so utterly bankrupt, that he would have been thrown into prison at Bayonne, had not a fellow traveller advanced him a sum sufficient to enable him to pursue his journey through France. Nor did his misfortunes end even here. Mr Burke's economical bill having annihilated the board of trade, Mr Cumberland lost his situation, and was forced to retire with a compensation allowance, which, as is usual in such cases, was far from being adequate to the emoluments of the office of which he had been deprived. Resolved, however, to accommodate himself to circumstances which he could not control, he now fixed his residence at Tunbridge Wells, and made reductions in his establishment proportioned to his diminished income.

His first publication, after his return from Spain, was Anecdotes of eminent Painters in Spain, a curious and interesting work, which he afterwards rendered more complete by the publication of a Catalogue of the King of Spain's Paintings. The Anecdotes were published in 1782, in two vols. 12mo; the Catalogue appeared in 1787. His comedy of The Wallcows, which he had written before settling at Tunbridge Wells, was brought out at Covent Garden Theatre, and followed by The Mysterious Husband in 1783, as well as by a tragedy entitled The Arab, which was acted once only, for the benefit of an actor. In 1783 appeared his Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, on his lordship's proposal for equalizing the revenues of the established church; and in 1785 were brought out his tragedy of The Carmelite and his comedy of The Natural Son. The collection of essays under the title of The Observer, were also first printed experimentally in 1785, in two vols. 12mo; but a new edition, considerably augmented, appeared in five volumes the following year; Cumberland and when this was exhausted he made another arrangement of the essays; and, having incorporated therewith his translation of The Clouds of Aristophanes, published the whole in six volumes. These papers have since been included in the collection of the British Essayists. His other productions of this period are a Character of his patron Lord Sackville, and a trashy pamphlet, published anonymously, entitled Curtius rescued from the Gulf; being an attempt at defending some one against an attack made on him by Dr Parr. His comedy of The Impostor, and Arnaudel, a novel in two vols. 12mo, appeared in 1789; in 1792 he published Calcary, or the Death of Christ, a poem in eight books, 4to; and, in 1795, he produced another novel, in four volumes 12mo, under the title of Henry, a production on which he bestowed more care and attention than on Arnaudel, the hasty effusion of a few weeks of leisure at Brighton. Cumberland is also the author of some works of a serious cast, particularly a version of fifty of the Psalms of David, A few plain Reasons why we should believe in Christ, a considerable number of sermons, numerous prayers, and metrical versions of passages selected from the Old Testament.

But the drama was the field which had the greatest attraction for "the Terence of England." In 1793 he brought out a comic opera in three acts, founded on the story of Wat Tyler; but the lord chamberlain having objected to it, he was obliged to recast and produce it under the title of The Armourer. His comedy of The Country Attorney was produced in the same year, at the summer theatre, when under the direction of the elder Colman; and here also, in 1794, were brought out his Box Lobby Challenge, and Don Pedro. At the opening of the new theatre in Drury Lane was represented his comedy of The Jew, which he wrote with great rapidity, but which had for its object to disabuse the public mind of unjust prejudices against the character of a people who have so long been without a country, and who have either been persecuted or reviled in almost every country where they have sojourned. His celebrated comedy of The Wheel of Fortune came out in the preceding season, and was closely followed by another called First Love. In 1796, Days of Yore, a drama, was produced at Covent Garden; and, in 1795, The Last of the Family, a comedy, was brought out at Drury Lane. Five other comedies were also produced successively by this prolific writer, namely, False Impressions, The Word of Nature, The Dependant, The Eccentric Lover, and The Sailor's Daughter; of which the first was represented at Covent Garden, and the last at Drury-Lane. In the year 1806 he brought out Hunts for Husbands, a comedy, which was performed at Covent Garden, but had a run of five nights only; and in the same year he published Memoirs of his own Life, to which he afterwards added a supplement. He was also concerned in The Exodion, an epic poem, now forgotten; John de Lancaster, a novel, in 3 volumes; and Joanna of Montfaucon, a dramatic romance, neither of them productions of any merit. He was likewise the conductor of The London Review, a critical journal established on the French plan of affixing to each article the name of the writer; but the attempt did not succeed.

From the time when Mr Cumberland retired from public life and fixed his residence at Tunbridge Wells, he devoted himself entirely to literary pursuits, and produced the various works we have enumerated. Here also he lost his wife, who had so long been the partner of his joys and sorrows; but he bore the bereavement with the resignation of a man of sense, convinced that patience is no mark of insensibility, nor the parade of lamentation any evidence of the sincerity or permanence of grief. During the alarm of invasion he caught the patriotic infection of the time, and having headed two companies of volunteer infantry, received the commission of major-commandant. His latter days were spent chiefly in London, where, on the 7th of May 1811, he expired after a short illness, at the house of a friend in Bedford Place, being then in the eighty-ninth year of his age. The last act of his life was the publication of a poem entitled *Retrospection*, embracing opinions of men and things which are much more fully and satisfactorily treated in his *Memoirs*.

Of the personal character of Cumberland a pretty accurate judgment may be formed from his *Memoirs*. His self-esteem was great, and his vanity overweening, but, although extremely sensitive to criticism, and intolerant of censure, he had no real malignity in his composition, and, like most excitable persons, seems to have been as placable as he was irritable. His temperament was of a kind which, if easily disturbed, as quickly recovered its balance; and there is every reason to believe that the predominant tone of his feelings was alike generous and liberal. On the only occasion of his life where his moral principles were put to the test they appeared to the very greatest advantage. His conduct respecting the bequest of Mr Reynolds, who had devised to Mr Cumberland his estate, to the exclusion of the natural heir, evinced the greatest disinterestedness, and the highest sense of honour and probity. It was his misfortune to have been bred a courtier, and never to have taken his degrees in that school. He evidently wanted the suppleness and versatility necessary to ensure success in such a career. In a subordinate station, which merely required attention to formal and technical duties, he acquitted himself indifferently well; but, in venturing to act as minister, he found himself woefully deficient in those qualities without the possession of which genius and talents are of little avail. At the same time, having associated with most of the eminent men of his time, the sketches and anecdotes which he has introduced into his *Memoirs* are in the highest degree interesting: whilst his habits of observing and discriminating character give to his delineations an authority, and consequently a value, which it is difficult to over-estimate. In society his chief aim was to please; and, by the admission of his contemporaries, few men appeared to more advantage in conversation, or evinced a more perfect mastery, when he chose to exercise it, of the art of pleasing. The great faults of his character were a tendency to lavish hollow compliments on those who were present, and a propensity, without provocation or necessity, to indulge in bitter sarcasms against individuals after they had taken their departure. That this was the result of mere recklessness, or of a desire to provoke or minister to mirth, may be readily believed; but, by giving way to so unfortunate a bias, he lost more than he gained; and, although his address was studied, polite, and courtly, his character for sincerity became depreciated beyond all recovery. As a writer, he is more remarkable for the number than for the excellence of his works; but many of them, it should be remembered, were hastily produced in order to better his income, and some of them are marked by no ordinary degree of intellectual power. In every variety of fortune the drama was his favourite pursuit; and if he has produced much that is perishable or forgotten, he has also evolved creations which have been enregistered as among the finest efforts of genius. The character of Penruddock in *The Wheel of Fortune*, for example, is a masterpiece, which received a double consecration from the historic talents of John Kemble, by whom it was so often and so nobly personated. As a poet he cannot by any means rank high; for, while he had a play of imagination, which unfitted him for the concerns of actual life and business, his warmest admirers can only claim for him the praise of correct versification and elegant sentiment, which, however, has secured for some of his poetical works a considerable share of popularity. With regard to his *Observer*, now that he has acknowledged how much he borrowed from the manuscripts of his grandfather Bentley, we need scarcely say that it no longer supports his pretensions as a Greek critic. His learning was shallow, and, like his wit, it was often taken at second hand.