[1][2] In 1801, he was presented by the college with the perpetual curacy of Tiverton's Prior's Quarter in Devon, where he lived for many years.
He also frequented the gaming salons of the "Palais Royal" and was so successful that in a year or two he acquired the equivalent of 25,000 English pounds.
Colton's books, including collections of epigrammatic aphorisms and short essays on conduct, though now almost forgotten, had a phenomenal popularity in their day.
Toward the end of 1820, Colton published Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words, addressed to those who think., in a small cheap edition.
In 1822, Colton re-published a previous work on Napoleon, with extensive additions, under the title of The Conflagration of Moscow.
In Paris he printed An Ode on the Death of Lord Byron for private circulation and continued to write.