XX LIFE OF DR. KELLY.
which he held for three years. In 1 779 he engaged as tutor to
the Marquis of Huntley, last Duke of Gordon. At that time
the Duke of Gordon had been stationed at Ayr with his regiment
(Aberdeenshire Fencibles),andhadin this way become acquainted
with Mr. Kelly. In 1791 Mr. Kelly was appointed vicar of
Ardleigh, near Colchester. He proceeded LL.D, at Cambridge
in 1 799 ; and became rector of Copford, not far from Ardleigh,
in 1800.
Dr. Kelly is best known as the author of the Manks Grammar,
and the reviser of the Manx translation of the Scriptures. He
also published the life of his wife^s grandfather, John Dollond,
F.R.S., the inventor of the achromatic telescope ; and two ser-
mons preached on public occasions, one of which is printed here-
with as a specimen of his pulpit powers, and of the liberal and
enlightened views which led him to labour so earnestly for the
improvement of his native country and its literature.
While yet a student at the Douglas Grammar School, the
aptitude which he displayed for learning, and his knowledge of
the vernacular language of the Isle of Man, marked him out for
important service in furthering the translation of the Holy
Scriptures into Manx, a work in which his worthy preceptor had
so large a share. It would appear that at the age of sixteen he
entered on the arduous task of revision assigned to him ; and for
the space of eight years was incessantly employed in that under-
taking. He transcribed the whole version, from Genesis to
Eevelation, superintended the impression, and corrected the
proof-sheets, as well as examined and corrected subsequent
editions of the New Testament. In an autograph letter of the
Rev. P. Moore's to the Christian Knowledge Society, in May,