Chester, in 1820. A German translation, made from the fifth enlarged edition, was printed at Leipzig in 1771.
In 1754 Law advocated in his public exercise for the degree of D.D. his favourite doctrine that the soul, which in his view was not naturally immortal, passed into a state of sleep between death and the resurrection. This theory met with much opposition; it was, however, defended by Archdeacon Blackburne. In 1756 Law became master of Peterhouse, and at the same time resigned his archdeaconry. In 1760 he was appointed librarian, or rather proto-bibliothecarius, of the university of Cambridge, an office created in 1721, and first filled by Dr. Conyers Middleton [q. v.], and in 1764 he was made Knightbridge professor of moral philosophy (Luard, Cat. Grad. Cant. p. 623). In 1763 he was presented to the archdeaconry of Staffordshire and a prebend in the church of Lichfield by his former pupil, Dr. Cornwallis; he received a prebend in the church of Lincoln in 1764, and in 1767 a prebendal stall in the church of Durham through the influence of the Duke of Newcastle. In 1768 Law was recommended by the Duke of Grafton, then chancellor of the university, to the bishopric of Carlisle. His friend and biographer, Paley, declares that Law regarded his elevation as a satisfactory proof that decent freedom of inquiry was not discouraged.
In 1774 the bishop published anonymously an outspoken declaration in favour of religious toleration in a pamphlet entitled 'Considerations on the Propriety of requiring Subscription to Articles of Faith.' It was suggested by a petition presented to parliament in 1772 by Archdeacon Blackburne and others for the abolition of subscription, and Law argued that it was unreasonable to impose upon a clergyman in any church more than a promise to comply with its liturgy, rites, and offices, without exacting any profession of such minister's present belief, still less any promise of constant belief, in particular doctrines. The publication was attacked by Dr. Randolph of Oxford, and defended by 'A Friend of Religious Liberty' in a tract attributed by some to Paley, and said to have been his first literary production. In 1777 the bishop published an edition of the 'Works' of Locke, in 4 vols. 4to, with a preface and a life of the author. Law also published several sermons. His interleaved Bible, with many manuscript notes, is preserved in the British Museum. He died at Rose Castle on 14 Aug. 1787, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He was buried in the cathedral of Carlisle, where the inscription on his monument commemorates his zeal alike for Christian truth and Christian liberty, adding 'religionem simplicem et incorruptam nisi salva libertate stare non posse arbitratus.' His biographer, who knew him well, describes the bishop as 'a man of great softnesse of manners, and of the mildest and most tranquil disposition. His voice was never raised above its ordinary pitch. His countenance seemed never to have been ruffled.'
Law's wife predeceased him in 1772, leaving eight sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Edmund, died a young man; four younger sons, John, bishop of Elphin, Edward (afterwards Lord Ellenborough), George Henry, bishop of Bath and Wells, and Thomas, are noticed separately.
The bishop's portrait was three times painted by Romney: in 1777 for Sir Thomas Rumbolt; in 1783 for Dr. John Law, then bishop of Clonfert; and a half-length, without his robes, in 1787 for Edward Law, afterwards lord Ellenborough (Memoirs of G. Romney, by Rev. J. Romney, 1830, pp. 188, 189).
[Life by Dr. William Paley; Leslie Stephen's English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, i. 406 sq.; Hunt's Religious Thought in the Eighteenth Century, iii. 313, 315, 355; art. ‘Laws of Buck Crag’ in Trans. of Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiq. Soc. vol. ii. 1876; cf. Aspland's Guide to Grange-over-Sands, p. 58; Le Neve's Fasti; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
LAW, EDWARD, first Baron Ellenborough (1750–1818), lord chief justice of England, fourth son of Edmund Law [q. v.], bishop of Carlisle, by his wife Mary, daughter of John Christian of Unerigg or Ewanrigg, in the parish of Dearham, Cumberland, was born at Great Salkeld, Cumberland, where his father was then rector, on 16 Nov. 1750. At the age of eight he went to live with his maternal uncle, the Rev. Humphrey Christian. After a short time at school at Bury St. Edmunds, Law was removed to the Charterhouse, where he was admitted a scholar on 22 Jan. 1761 upon the nomination of Dr. Sherlock, bishop of London. Here he remained six years, 'a bluff burly boy, at once moody and good-natured, ever ready to inflict a blow or perform an exercise for his schoolfellows' (Capel Lofft, quoted in Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices, iii. 96). He became captain of the school, and being elected an exhibitioner on 2 May 1767, matriculated on 11 July in the same year at Peterhouse, Cambridge, of which his father was then the master. While at the university he became acquainted with Vicary Gibbs [q. v.], Simon de Blanc, and Soulden Lawrence, all of whom afterwards sat with him
