The happiest lot for a man, as far as birth is concerned, is that it should be such as to give him but little occasion to think much about it.

In 1829 Whately was elected to the professorship of political economy at Oxford in succession to Nassau William Senior. Behind the scenes Thomas Hyde Villiers had lobbied Denis Le Marchant on his behalf with the Brougham Whigs. Among his other works may be mentioned Charges and Tracts (1836) Essays on Some of the Dangers to Christian Faith (1839) The Kingdom of Christ (1841).