ch, the poet returned to his native county.
During a probation of thirteen years, he was assistant to six parish
ministers, and tutor in five different families. He became
joint-proprietor and editor of the _Ayr Advertiser_, which he conducted
for a period of three years. At Ayr he was a member of every literary
circle; was connected with every club; chaplain to every society; a
speaker at every meeting; the poet of every curious occurrence; and the
welcome guest at every table. Besides editing his newspaper, he gave
private instructions in languages, and preached on Sabbath. His metrical
productions became widely known, and his songs were sung at the cottage
hearths of the district. His presence at the social meeting was the sure
indication of a prevalent good humour.

In 1813, Mr Paul attained the summit of his professional ambition; he
was ordained to the pastoral office in the united parishes of Broughton,
Glenholm, and Kilbucho, in Peeblesshire. Amidst due attention to his
clerical duties, he still found leisure to engage in literary pursuits,
and continued to contribute to the public journals both in prose and
poetry. Of the poet Burns he was an enthusiastic admirer; he was
laureate of the "Burns' Allowa' Club," and of the Glasgow Ayrshire
Friendly Society, whose annual meetings were held on the Bard's
anniversary; and the odes which he composed for these annual assemblages
attracted wide and warm admiration. He therefore recommended himself as
a suitable editor of the works of Burns, when a new edition was
contemplated by Messrs Wilson and M'Cormick, booksellers in Ayr. In the
performance of his editorial task, he was led, in an attempt to palliate
the immoralities of Burns, to make some indiscreet allusions respecting
his own clerical brethren; for this imprudence he narrowly escaped
censure from the ecclesiastical courts. His memoir, though commended in
_Blackwood's Magazine_, conducted by Professor Wilson, was severely
censured by Dr Andrew Thomson in the _Christian Instructor_.

The pastoral parish of Broughton was in many respects suited for a
person of Hamilton Paul's peculiar temperament and habits; in a more
conspicuous position his talents might have shone with more brilliancy;
but, after the burst of enthusiasm in his youth was past, he loved
seclusion, and modestly sought the shade. No man was less conscious of
his powers, or attached less value to his literary performances.[73] Of
his numerous poetic