WATSON, RICHARD: The name of two English divines.

1. Bishop of Llandaff: Scientist and apologist; b. at Haversham, Westmoreland (40 m. s. of Carlisle), Aug., 1737; d. at Calgarth Park (37 m. s. of Carlisle) July 4, 1816. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1759; fellow, 1760; M:A., 1762; D.D., 1771); became professor of chemistry, 1764, having no prior knowledge of the subject, but fitting himself for the position by assiduous application and achieving a remarkable success both in teaching the subject and by his published contributions; was elected regius professor of divinity, 1771, acknowledging later that his qualifications for that chair were not great; became prebendary at Ely, 1774, and archdeacon there, 1779; rector of Northwold, Norfolk, 1779; of Knaptoft, Leicestershire, 1780; and bishop of Llandaff, 1782. Watson is especially noted for his versatility and power of concentration, for clearness in expounding scientific matters, for ingenuity in working out results, and for his interest in Biblical study as applied by the laity. He issued a number of publications dealing with chemistry, including Institutionum chemicarum, . . . Pare metallurgica (Cambridge, 1768), ,which were collected in Chemical Essays (5 vols., London, 1781-87). Among his theological works may be noted Apology for Christianity, . ~ . Letters . . to Edward Gibbon (1776; regarded as the antidote to Gibbon's fifteenth chapter, and frequently reprinted; for the character of this chapter see Gissorr, Enwexn); A Collection of Theological Tracts (6 vols., Cambridge, 1785; an assemblage of twentyfour works by many hands, the aim being the furtherance of Biblical study); and An Apology for the Bible in a Series of Letters Addressed to Thomas Paine (London, 1796; a work which had a wide popularity both in England and in America). He also gathered sermons and other writings, charges, etc., in his Miscellaneous Tracts on Religious, Political and Agricultural Subjects (2 vols., 1815). He contributed material for his life in his Anecdotes of the Life of Richard Watson, edited by his son (1817). He was a supporter of Wilberforce in the tatter's crusade against slavery, and was interested in the extension of churches in London. He was a man of great breadth of thought and charity of action.

2. English Methodist: b. at Barton upon Humber (32 m. a.e. of York), England, Feb. 22, 1781; d. at London Jan. 8,1833. He was educated at Lincoln Grammar School; apprenticed to a joiner at Lin-

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coin in 1795; preached his first sermon 1796, and removed to Newark as assistant to Thomas Cooper, Wesleyan preacher; was received on trial at the conference of 1796, and into full connection as a traveling minister in 1801, having been stationed at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Castle Donington, and Derby. Resenting a charge of Arianism, he withdrew from the Wesleyan connection, and joined the Methodist New Connection in 1803, being fully admitted to its ministry in 1807. He became assistant secretary of its conference in 1805, and secretary in 1807; he was first at Stockport, then from 1806 at Liverpool, where he engaged in literary work for Thomas Kaye. Resigning his ministry in 1807, he returned to the Wesleyan bpdy, being reinstated, 1812. In 1808 he was engaged as editor of the Liverpool Courier by Kaye, In 1812 he was stationed at Wakefield, and at Hull 1814-16. In the Wesleyan movement of 1813 for foreign missions, and in particular for the evangelization of India, Watson drew up a plan of a general missionary society, which was accepted. Removed to London in 1816, and made one of the two general secretaries to the Wesleyan missions, he was resident missionary secretary in London, 1821-27, and again, 1832-1833. After holding an appointment at Manchester, 1827-29, he returned to London. At the request in 1820 of the conference he produced his Observations on Mr. Southey's Life of Wesley (London, 1820), and later his own Life of Rev. John, Wesley (1831). Active in the antislavery movement, he was not, however, for immediate emancipation. He was a strong upholder of the connectional discipline, and desired to maintain friendly relations with the established church. In the pulpit his power lay in appeals on great occasions: he had a commanding and deliberate delivery, and was noted as a platform speaker. His works embrace an exposition of St. Matthew and St. Mark (1831); A Defense of the Wesleyan Methodist Missions in the West Indies (London, 1817); Theological Institutes (3d ed., 3 vols., 1829); Conversations for the Young (1830); A Biblical and Theological Dictionary (1831); his Works, with Memoirs by T. Jackson, appeared (12 vols., 1834-37); and his Sermons and Outlines (1865)..

Bibliography: On 1: Besides the Anecdotes, ut sup., consult: J. Hunt. Hist. of Religious Thought in England, iii. 351, London, 1873; L. Stephen, English Thought in the 18th Century, passim, New York, 1881; J. H. Overton and F. Relton, English Church (1714-2800), pp. 259-252 et passim, London, 1908; C. S. Carter, English. Church in 18th Century, passim, London, 1910; DNB, Ix. 24-27. On 2: Besides the Memoirs by T. Jackson, ut sup., consult: J. Bunting, Memorials of the Late Richard Watson, London, 1833; W. Willan, in Sermons and Outlines by Richard Watson, ib. 1865; DNB, lx. 27-29.