caster-house, and the ruins of Walls Castle. abound on the coast between this town and Oysters | Queen Anne's Bounty. The school has a small endowment. Clea-hall, Whitefield-house, and Snittlegarth, are in this neighbourhood. Bootle, which is one of the smallest market-towns in the kingdom, has a very antient church, an independent chapel, and two endowed schools. Parish population in 1831, 737. A small weekly market on Saturday. Near it are the ruins of Barnscar, supposed by some to have been a British and by others a Danish city. Derwent division consists of a portion of the county taken from the wards of Allerdale above and below Derwent, by an order of the magistrates made at the quartersessions of 1833. It contains most of the lakes, the borough of Cockermouth, for which see article COCKERMOUTH, and the market-towns of Maryport and Keswick. Hesket-New-market is a small but neat town, situate on the banks of the Caldew, 9 miles south of Wigton and 13 south-west of Carlisle. It has a weekly market on Friday. Leath Ward comprises the south and south-east parts of the county, and has within its limits an inexhaustible store of mineral treasures. It contains three market-towns, Penrith, Kirkoswald, and Alston. Penrith is an antient and well-built town, 283 miles from London, situate in a fine fertile vale at the south extremity of Inglewood forest. It has no manufactories of consequence. The church is a neat and elegant structure. Maryport is a neat modern seaport on the river Ellen. In on one of its walls is the following inscription: A. D. 1598 1750 there was only one house on the present site of the ex gravi peste quæ regionibus hisce incubuit obierunt apud town. The trade and manufacture connected with ship- Penrith 2260, Kendal 2500, Richmond 2200, Carlisle 1196. building are flourishing. A very handsome market-house Posteri, avertite vos et vivite.' In the church-yard is an has been lately erected, and a new harbour is now build- antient monument, consisting of two pyramidal stones ing. The vessels belonging to the port are about 130 in twelve feet high, called the Giant's Grave. Here are six number, and are chiefly employed in exporting coal, lime, dissenting chapels; a free grammar-school; several charityand stone, and in importing cattle, timber, flax, and iron. schools, and a house of correction. Penrith was several A steamer sails weekly to Liverpool in the winter, and also times pillaged and twice burned by the Scots in the turbuto the Isle of Man and Dublin in the summer season. In lent times that preceded the union. On an eminence to the town are a chapel of ease, five dissenting places of the west are the ruins of a castle which was inhabited by worship, a national school, and a school of industry. Cha- Richard III. when duke of Gloucester, and was destroyed pelry population in 1831, 3877. Market-day, Friday. In in the time of the Commonwealth. The Beacon stands on the vicinity are the mansions of Nether-hall and Unerigg, a high mount, about a mile from the town, and commands and the village of Ellenborough, from which the late Lord a view of the country for more than 100 miles in cirChief Justice Law derived his title. At a short distance cumference. Parish population in 1831, 6059. Marketare Tallantire-hall and Dovenby-hall. day, Tuesday. Sir Richard Hutton, judge of the Common Pleas, was a native of Penrith. In its vicinity in this county are the following mansions: Eden-hall, Carlton-hall, Hutton-hall, Skirsgill, Dalemain, and Hallsteads. Greystokecastle and Dacre-castle are each about six miles distant. The former was the antient seat of the duke of Norfolk; the latter is supposed to have been the original mansion of the Dacre family, and is now converted into a farmhouse. Keswick is a small and pleasant town, standing on the banks of the Greta, near the lake of Derwent-water. It is much resorted to by visiters to the lakes, and is celebrated for the beautiful and romantic scenery in its vicinity. The parish church of Crosthwaite is about half a mile from Keswick. John Marshall, Esq. is now erecting a new church on the opposite side of the town. Char is potted here, and sent to London, and to almost every part of the kingdom. This place is also noted for black-lead pencils. Woollen goods, fancy waistcoatings, and edge-tools are ma nufactured here. The Town-hall is a small edifice. There are two good museums; a national school, and a Sundayschool; a free-school, and workhouse. Township population in 1831, 2159. There is a weekly market on Saturday. Sir John Banks, chief justice of the Common Pleas, was born at Keswick; and on his death, in 1642, bequeathed property worth upwards of 2001. per annum to the poor of his native town. Robert Southey, the present poet-laureat, resides at Greta-hall near Keswick. Allerdale below Derwent comprises a part of the west of the county, and contains four very small market-towns, Allonby, Abbey Holme, Ireby, and Hesket-New-market. Allonby is pleasantly situated on the sea-shore, and is much frequented for bathing. It has a chapel of ease; a school with a small endowment, and a Friends' meetinghouse. A good building, containing warm and cold baths, has been lately erected. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in fishing. Chapelry population in 1831, 783. Markei-day, Saturday. Captain Huddart, who constructed the much esteemed nautical charts, was a native of Allonby, where he worked some time as a mechanic and also as a fisherman, and gradually advanced to be captain in the East India service, and elder brother of the Trinity-house, London. Hayton-castle and Brayton-house are situated a short distance from Allonby. Abbey-Holme, about six miles from Wigton, has a small market on Saturday, in summer only. Quarter population in 1831, 861; parish population 3056. In this parish was an abbey of Cistercians, said to have been founded about the year 1150, by Prince Henry, son of David, king of Scotland; part of the ruins is remaining, and has been converted into the parish church. In the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. the abbots of this religious house were summoned to several parliaments. Woolsty-castle, of which there is now scarcely a vestige, was a strong fortress. Near it is the famous Green Row academy. Ireby is a very old town, having had a market granted to it 600 years ago, but so little benefit has it derived from the grant, that in 1831 the entire parish contained only 449 inhabitants. The church is small. The salary of the present clergyman, who has filled the office above half a century, was only 257. a year until recently augmented by No. 495. Kirkoswald is situated in a beautiful vale on the Eden, fifteen miles from Carlisle. The church was dedicated to St. Oswald, the celebrated martyr and king of Northumberland; and in the reign of King John belonged to Hugh de Morville, one of the murderers of Thomas à Becket. Near the town are the remains of an antient castle, and a mansion called the College. A paper-mill and a mill for carding and spinning wool are the only manufactories. Township population in 1831, 768. A weekly market on Thursday, and great markets on Thursday before Whitsuntide, and August 1st. Caleb Threlkeld, a famous botanist, was born here in 1675. John Aglionby, a learned divine, who had a considerable hand in the present translation of the New Testament, and Dr. Leake, the founder of the Westminster Lying-in Hospital, were natives of the adjoining parish of Ainstable. A peculiar wind, called the Helmwind, sometimes blows with great fury in this part of the country. It is believed by some persons to be an electrical phenomenon. Alston is situate in a wild and mountainous district, on the confines of Northumberland, near the Tyne, and has valuable lead-mines in its vicinity; a good modern church, four chapels for dissenters, a national school, grammarschool, and subscription library. Parish population in 1831, 5244. Market-day, Saturday. The lead-mines are let to the London Lead Company and several other persons, who pay one-fifth part of the ore raised for rent. On an average, the mines produce 7600 tons of lead annually, and from every ton about thirteen ounces of silver are ex tracted. Copper is also worked in several of the mines. Cumberland Ward is situate in the north-west. It is the most fertile and mcst central ward, and contains the city of Carlisle (an account of which may be found under the article CARLISLE), and the market-town of Wigton, which is a well-built town, seated near the Wiza, in a beautiful part of the county. It was burned by the Scots in the fourteenth century, when they plundered the monastery of Holm Cultram. The principal inanufactures are checks, ginghams, and calicoes. Here are gas-works, ex tensive print-works, and a dyeing establishment. In 1725 an hospital was founded here for six indigent widows of episcopal clergymen. In 1788 a handsome new church was built. The Quakers, Independents, and Methodists have neat and commodious chapels. A Catholic chapel is now building. There are also an endowed grammar-school, | 6 minor canons. The surplus revenue, after the yearly Eskdale Ward is the most northern division; being situ- Brampton is a very antient town, and has a weekly mar- Longtown is a modern town on the borders of Scotland, Cumberland is comprehended in the province of York, and in the northern circuit. The assizes are held at Carlisle twice a year. The quarter-sessions are held twice at Carlisle and twice at Cockermouth annually; the Easter and Michaelmas sessions at the latter place, and the Midsummer and Christmas at the former, each commencing on Tuesday. The county returns four members to parliament (two having been added by the Reform Act); two for the eastern division, which includes Cumberland, Leath, and Eskdale Wards, and two for the western division, comprising the wards of Allerdale-above-Derwent, Derwent, and Allerdale-below-Derwent. Carlisle sends two members, the borough of Cockermouth two, and Whitehaven one (the last also given by the Reform Act). The members for Carlisle and the eastern division are elected at Carlisle; the members for Cockermouth and the western division at Cockermouth; and the member for Whitehaven at Whitehaven. The polling-stations for the eastern division are Carlisle, Brampton, Wigton, Penrith, and Alston. The number of voters by the registration of 1836 was 4638. The polling-stations for the western division are Cockermouth, Aspatria, Keswick, Bootle, and Egremont: the number of voters registered in 1836 was 4437. The number for the borough of Carlisle in 1836-freemen, 328, householders, 684: total, 1012. History and Antiquities.-The earliest inhabitants of Cumberland of whom we have any account, were the Brigantes, a bold and warlike people, conquered by the Romans about A. D. 121, when the famous Roman or Picts' Wall was erected by Hadrian, to prevent the ravages of the Caledonians, who bore an inveterate hatred to the Romans. This barrier was formed of earth, and connected a chain of forts erected by Agricola in 78. being found insufficient, Severus, in 210, built one of stone, 73 miles in length, from near the mouth of the Tyne to the Solway Frith. The last was strengthened by an outward ditch, and guarded by towers and a chain of forts and stations. Remains of both walls, but particularly of that of Severus, may still be traced in several places. At a very early period, the inhabitants, who were the true and genuine Britons, were called Cumbri: and hence probably the name of the district, Cumberland. In almost every part of the county are remains of British and Roman antiquities. About three miles from Kirkoswald is a Druidical temple, consisting of a circle of sixty-seven unhewn stones, called Long Meg and her Daughters. Another and more entire circle of stones is situated a mile and a half south-east of Keswick. This county has been a perfect magazine of Roman antiquities. The remains of Roman garrisons or stations are still distinctly observable at Maryport, Old Carlisle, Old Penrith, and Bewcastle. Several altars, inscriptions, coins, instruments, utensils, &c. have been discovered at these places. After the retreat of the Romans, the country was laid waste and the city of Carlisle reduced to a complete state of ruin by the Scots and Picts. The country had also to endure the ravages of the Danes. During the Saxon Heptarchy it was joined to the kingdom of Northumberland, but was governed by its own chieftain under what was called the Danish law, until the Norman Conquest. In 945 Cumberland was granted to Malcolm, king of Scotland, and was for a long time the scene of war and bloodshed between the two crowns, being sometimes under the dominion of the kings of England and sometimes under that of the kings of Scotland. At the time of the Conquest, the county was in such a state of poverty and desolation, that it was not rated in the There are 3 deaneries, Carlisle, Penrith, and Wigton; 1 Domesday Book, William the Conqueror having remitted archdeaconry; 104 parishes; 400 townships; 41 rectories; all its taxes. Walter, one of his countrymen, laid the 28 vicarages; 59 perpetual curacies and chapelries; and 7 foundation of a priory at Carlisle, which was afterwards small extraparochial places and hamlets. The Roman converted into an episcopal see. In 1237 Cumberland was Catholics have 6 chapels; the Independents upwards of finally annexed to the crown of England by Henry III. at 20; the Church of Scotland 7, and the Secession 7; the a conference held at York; but the feuds between the two Quakers about 20; the Antipædobaptists 6; and the kingdoms continued for more than three centuries afterMethodists, comprising the Wesleyans, primitive and re-wards, and this county, situate on the borders, and containform, upwards of 70. The corporation of the dean and chapter of Carlisle consists of the dean, 4 prebendaries, and Divisions for ecclesiastical and legal purposes.-The whole of the county is in the diocese of Carlisle, with the exception of the ward of Allerdale-above-Derwent, in the diocese of Chester, and the parish of Alston, in that of Durham. The gross yearly value of the see may be estimated, upon an average of seven years, at 30007. The commissioners appointed to consider the state of the dioceses in England and Wales recommend that the sees of Carlisle and Sodor and Man be united; and that the diocese consist of the present diocese of Carlisle, of those parts of Cumberland and Westmoreland which are now in the diocese of Chester, of the deanery of Furness and Cartmel, in the county of Lancaster, of the parish of Alston, and of the Isle of Man. An act for carrying into effect the reports of the commissioners was passed in the session of parliament, 1836. ing the debatable land, was often the scene of contention, rapine, and bloodshed. In 1307 Edward I. died, on an ex pedition towards Scotland, at Burgh Marsh, near Carlisle, where a monument has been erected to his memory. The inhabitants of the county at various times suffered many cruelties and deprivations, had several towns burnt and monasteries destroyed, and were not relieved from hostile attacks and inroads until the union of the two crowns by the succession of James I. Even after this time, outrages and robberies were frequently committed. During the civil war between king Charles and his parliament, and also during the time of Cromwell, Carlisle was besieged, and the inhabitants were much barassed and distressed. This county was the scene of hostilities in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. In the latter, Carlisle was taken possession of by Charles Stuart and his followers, and was retaken by the king's forces under the duke of Cumberland. in the abbeys of Lanercost and Holm Cultram. The west end of the last-mentioned abbey is the only specimen of the latest Gothic in the county. The churches of Burgh-onSands, Newton Arlosh, and Great Salkeld have stronglyfortified towers, which probably served as places of refuge for the inhabitants of these villages in the time of an invasion. (Nicholson and Burn's History and Antiquities of Cumberland; Hutchinson's History of Cumberland; Conybeare and Phillips's Geology of England and Wales; Otley's Guide to the Lakes; Scott's Do.; Lysons' Beauties of England and Wales; Bailey and Culley's Survey of the Agriculture of Cumberland; Housman's Topographical Description of Cumberland, &c.; Ridpath's Border History of England and Scotland; Communications from Cumber STATISTICS-Population. Cumberland is both an agricultural and manufacturing county. It is the twentyeighth on the list of agricultural counties. The population, in 1831, included 40,614 male inhabitants of twenty years of age and upwards. Of this number, 15,466 were engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 3214 in manufactures or in making manufacturing machinery. The latter were thus distributed: the manufacture of cotton employed 2200; calico and ginghams, 300; woollens, 174; sail-cloth, linen, and linen thread, about 100; pottery, 5; and about 250 in the manufacture of cordage, sail-cloth, twine, worsted, and tobacco, most of them at Whitehaven. There were formerly several monasteries and antient hos-land.) pitals in Cumberland. The Austin monks had a priory at Lanercost and another at Carlisle. The Benedictines had priories at Wetheral, Nunnery, St. Bees, and Seaton. The Cistercians had an abbey at Holm Cultram and another at Calder. There was a convent of grey friars at Penrith; one of black friars and another of grey friars at Carlisle. There were religious houses of antient foundation at Carlisle, St. Bees, and Dacre. A nunnery is said to have been founded at Carlisle by David, king of Scotland, at which place there was an hospital for thirteen lepers, dedicated to St. Nicholas. At Wigton, an hospital and free chapel were dedicated to St. Leonard. Many of the old churches exhibit remains of the Saxon and early Gothic architecture. Specimens of the former may be seen in the churches of Aspatria, Torpenhow, and Kirklinton; and of the latter HOUSES. The following summary of the population taken at the last census (1831), shows the number of inhabitants and their occupations in each ward, &c. of the county. The population of Cumberland at each of the four enu- | March, 1833, was levied upon various descriptions of promerations was: perty, as follows: The sum expended for the same purpose in the year ending 25th March, 1836, was 34,8831. 78.; and assuming that the population has increased at the same rate of per-centage since 1831 as in the ten years preceding that period, the above sum gives an average of 38. 11d. for each inhabitant. All these averages are below those for the whole of England and Wales. The sum raised in Cumberland for poor's-rate, countyrate, and other local purposes, in the year ending 25th A new division has been made since the census was taken, which is mentioned in the previous part of this article, ,, dwelling-houses manorial profits, navigation, &c. Total money levied by assessment The amount expended was : For the relief of the poor In suits of law, removal of paupers, &c. 2,197 40 Total money expended 46,901 15 0 9,585 10 0 £58,684 9 0 In the returns made up for the three succeeding years, the descriptions of property assessed for local purposes are not distinguished. 1836. 46,811 10 34,583 7 0 1,655 6 0 5,935 8 0 4,507 14 0 46,981 15 0 Females. Total of persons. Males twenty years of age. The various sums placed in the savings-banks in 1834 and 1835, were distributed as under : The saving effected in the sums expended for the relief of 1 the poor in 836, as compared with the expenditure of 1835, is therefore rather less than 10 per cent. The amount of the other items is however still less in proportion than that of the preceding year, reducing the whole amount of saving to nearly 14 per cent. From a parliamentary report on the subject, made in 1836, it is found that the number of turnpike trusts in Cumberland is 14; the number of miles of road under their charge is 215; the annual income arising from the tolls and parish composition, in 1834, was 17,365/. 15s. 2d.; and the annual expenditure, 17,655l. 11s. 11d. The amount of expenditure of county-rate in the year 1834 was 11,1617. 15s. 84d.-thus disbursed: Education.-The following particulars are obtained from the parliamentary papers on the subject, delivered after the sessions of 1835: Schools. Scholars. Total. 11 377 486 863 £. s. d. 6,437 7 10 3 from 2 to 7 years: Males . . 44 9 7 Females. Sex not specified 1,078 13 8 448 11 11 123 4 3 132 12 0 Vagrants-apprehending and conveying 147 12 7 Constables-high and special Miscellaneous 200 0 0 278 8 3 717 16 4 The number of persons charged with criminal offences in the three septennial periods ending with 1820, 1827, and 1834, were respectively 351, 408, and 477; making an annual average of 50 in the first period; of 58 in the second, and of 68 in the third period. The number of persons tried at quarter-sessions in respect of which any costs were paid out of the county rates in each of the years 1831, 1832, and 1833, were 33, 38, and 50, respectively: At the assizes and sessions in 1835, 100 persons were charged with crimes in Cumberland; out of which number 17 were charged with offences against the person, 10 of which were common assaults; only 1 was committed for housebreaking; 66 for offences against property committed without violence; and of the remaining 16 one was committed for forgery, 1 for uttering counterfeit coin, 4 for perjury, and 10 for riot, &c. Of those committed 86 were convicted, and 14 acquitted, or no bill found. The 86 who were convicted, were punished as follow:-1 was executed, 2 transported for life, 1 for 14 years, and 15 for 7 years; 4 imprisoned for 2 years or upwards of 1 year, 21 for 1 year, or more than 6 months, and 40 for 6 months or under; 2 were discharged on sureties. Of the offenders 79 were males and 21 females. Among the whole number 50 could read and write, 22 could read only, 24 could neither read nor write; and of the remaining 4 the degree of instruction could not be ascertained. The proportion of the offenders to the population in 1835 was 1 in 1697. The number of persons qualified to vote for the county members of Cumberland were, in from 4 to 14 years:— Total of children under daily instruction. 21,531 Sunday Schools Number of children at such schools, ages from 4 to 15 years:— Males 6100 5553 3039 14,692 Assuming that the population between 2 and 15 years increased in the same ratio as the whole of the population between 1821 and 1831, and that it has continued to increase in the same ratio since, we find that there must have been living in Cumberland in 1834 (the time this education inquiry was made) 54,860 persons between those ages. Of these a large number attend both daily and Sunday schools. Only four Sunday schools are returned from places where there are no other schools, and where the children, 258 in number, who are instructed therein, cannot be supposed to attend at any other school; at all other places Sundayschool children have the power of resorting to other schools also; but in what number or in what proportion duplicate entry of the same children is thus produced, must remain uncertain. Twenty schools, containing 1380 children, which are both daily and Sunday schools, are returned from various places, and duplicate entry is therefore known to be thus far created. After making deductions for this, we may conclude that much below two-thirds of the children receive instruction. which is 1 in 14 of the whole population, and 1 in 4 of the Seven boarding schools are included in the number of daily schools as given above. No school in this county appears to be confined to the children of the parents of the Established Church, or of any other religious denomination; such exclusion being disclaimed in almost every instance, especially in schools established by dissenters, with whom are here included Wesleyan Methodists, together with schools for the children of Roman Catholic parents. Thirty-nine schools in Cumberland have lending-libraries attached to them. CUMBERLAND, RICHARD, was born in the parish of St. Ann, near Aldersgate, in London, on the 13th of July, 1632. He received the early part of his education at St. Paul's school, and went thence to Magdalen College, Cambridge, in 1649. After taking his master's degree he thought of entering the medical profession, and accordingly studied medicine for a short time; but he soon relinquished this intention, and took orders. In 1658 he was appointed to the rectory of Brampton, in Northamptonshire, where he remained till 1667, when Sir Orlando Bridgman, who had been his contemporary at Cambridge, and had now become lord keeper, first made him his chaplain, and shortly after bestowed on him the living of Allhallows, in Stamford. In both places he performed the duties of minister with the most exemplary assiduity. In Stamford he regularly preached three times every Sunday, having taken upon himself a weekly lectureship in addition to his parochial duties. His 'Inquiry into the Laws of Nature,' which was written while he was chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgman, appeared in 1672, the year in which Puffendorf published his Treatise on the Law of Nature and Nations.' His 'Essay on Jewish Weights and Measures,' a work of great learning and acuteness, was published in 1686. After the Revolution, Dr. Cumberland was raised to the see of Peterborough, in the room of Dr. Thomas White, who refused the new oath. The manner in which the many bishoprics that thus became vacant were filled up by William is thus described by Bishop Burnet: 'It was visible that in all these nominations, and the filling the inferior dignities that became void by their promotion, no ambition nor court favour had appeared; men were not scrambling for preferment, nor using arts or employing friends to set them forward; on the contrary, men were sought for and brought out of their retirement, and most of them very much against their own inclinations.' (Hist. of his Own Time, vol. ii. p. 76.) These remarks are particularly applicable to Dr. Cumberland's case. 'The king was told,' says Mr. Payne, his chaplain, to whom we are indebted for a brief, and that the only, memoir of Cumberland, 'that Dr. Cumberland was the fittest man he could nominate to the bishopric of Peterborough. Thus a private country clergyman, without posting to court,-a place he had rarely seen, without suing to great men, without taking the least step towards soliciting for it, was pitched upon to fill a great trust, only because he was fittest for it. He walked after his usual manner on a post-day to the coffee-house, and read in the newspaper that one Dr. Cumberland, of Stamford, was named to the bishopric of Peterborough; a greater surprise to himself than to any body else.' (Preface to Sanchoniathon's History, p. xii.) This was in the sixtieth year of his age; but his health was still good, and he entered with great zeal on the performance of his new duties. He had commenced, some years before, a critical examination of Sanchoniathon's Phoenician History; and this work still occupied him for some years after he was made a bishop. It led him to several cognate inquiries, the results of which were published some time after his death under the title of 'Origines Antiquissimæ, or Attempts for Discovering the Times of the first Planting of Nations.' Neither was the series of dissertations on Sanchoniathon's History published during his lifetime. They were both edited by Mr. Payne, and published, the latter in 1720, the former in 1724. At the age of eighty-three Dr. Cumberland, having been presented by Dr. Wilkins with a copy of his Coptic Testament, then just published, commenced, like another Cato, the study of Coptic. At this age,' says Mr. Payne, 'he mastered the language, and went through great part of this version, and would often give me excellent hints and remarks as he proceeded in reading of it.' He died on the 9th of October, 1718, in the eightyseventh year of his age. Dr. Cumberland's private character appears to have been a perfect model of virtue. When I read,' says Mr. Payne, 'the character given in Scripture of Moses, that "he was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth," and that given to Nathaniel by our Saviour, that "he was an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile;" I cannot but apply them to this extraordinary person, for I think there never could be a man after them whom these characters do more truly fit.' He was a man also of most extensive learning. He was thoroughly acquainted with all the branches of philosophy: he had good judgment in physic, knew everything that was curious in anatomy, had an intimacy with the classics. Indeed he was a stranger to no part of learning, but every subject he had occasion to talk of, he was as much a master of it as if the direction of his studies had chiefly lain that way. He was thoroughly conversant in scripture, and had laid up that treasure in his mind. No hard passage ever occurred, either occasionally or in reading, but he could readily give the meaning of it, and the several interpretations, without needing to consult his books.' The Inquiry into the Laws of Nature was called forth by the political and moral works of Hobbes. Hobbes is charged therein with atheism; he is represented, as he is also represented in Cudworth's Eternal and Immutable Morality,' as denying any standard of moral good and evil other than one fashioned by human law; he is upbraided for the forms of expression that in a state of nature all men have a right to all things, and that the state of nature is a state of war. These differences between Hobbes and Cumberland may be all traced to a misapprehension of the former's meaning. As regards Cumberland's own views of moral science, they are substantially correct. Objections may be made to the phrases, law of nature' and right reason,' by which last he denotes the set of faculties employed in the determination of moral good and evil. But though in a science where the chief disputes that have arisen are verbal disputes, phraseology cannot be accounted unimportant, and though that phraseology, combined with clumsiness of style and arrangement, has prevented a general perception of the substantial merits of the work, we must, while we regret the defect and its consequences, do justice to a really correct system. Tendency to affect the general good is made the standard of morality. To endeavour to effect the greatest amount of general good, is the one great duty, or the one great 'law of nature;' and we know, according to Cumberland, that it is a duty or law of nature, or law of God, because we know that an individual derives the greatest happiness from the exercise of benevolence, and that God desires the greatest possible happiness of all his creatures. Carrying out the fundamental principle, that the greatest general good is to be sought, he deduces the several particular duties or particular laws of nature.' He founds government upon, and tests it by, the same principle. Sir James Mackintosh, after passing one or two other. criticisms on Cumberland's system, observes: 'He had a momentary glimpse of the possibility, that some human actions might be performed with a view to the happiness of others, without any consideration of the pleasure reflected back on ourselves. But it is too faint and transient to be worthy of observation, otherwise than as a new proof how often great truths must flit before the understanding before they can be firmly and finally held in its grasp.' The pretty sentiment of the second sentence is doubtless the secret of a criticism, which, passed upon a system that makes the general good the end, and spoken of the good accruing to one's self from the pursuit of the general good only as an index to the will of God, is, at best, unmeaning. Sir James afterwards says: Throughout his whole reasoning, he adheres to the accustomed confusion of the quality which renders actions virtuous with the sentiments excited in us by the contemplation of them.' The quality which renders actions virtuous' is, according to Cumberland, their tendency to increase the general good. The sentiments excited in us by the contemplation of them' are, the sentiments of moral approbation and disapprobation. Does Cumberland confound these sentiments with a tendency to increase general good? Can this, which Sir James Mackintosh calls an accustomed confusion,' ever have taken place? (Dissertation on Ethical Philosophy, sec. v.) The Inquiry', as may be inferred from the Latin title which has been given, was written in Latin. It was printed in a most inaccurate way, and the innumerable errors of The following is the title in full of the work:- De Legibus Nature Disquisitio Philosophica, in qua earum forma, summa capita, ordo, promulgatio, et obligatio, e rerum natura investigantur; quinetiam Elementa Philosophia Hobbiane, cum moralis tum civilis, considerantur et refutantur.' |