Cumberland

Cumberland, DR RICHARD, was born in London, July 15, 1631. Educated at St Paul's School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, he was preferred to the rectory of Brampton, Northamptonshire, in 1658; in 1667 to the living of All Hallows, Stamford; and in 1691 to the bishopric of Peterborough. Cumberland was a man of great acquirements, and of sincere and simple piety; his frequent saying, 'a man had better wear out than rust out,' explains his unusually high idea of episcopal duty. He wrote several works, of which one is still read, his Inquiry into the Laws of Nature, written in reply to Hobbes, and remarkable as placing the foundation of morality on a utilitarian basis. His Essay on Jewish Weights and Measures was dedicated to his old college friend Pepys, as president of the Royal Society. As an instance of Cumberland's insatiable thirst for knowledge, it is mentioned that he learned Coptic after the age of eighty-three. He died October 9, 1718.