Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/107

Langhorne village, and afterwards at Appleby. In his eighteenth year he became a private tutor in a family near Ripon, and during his residence there commenced writing verses. 'Studley Park' and a few other of his early efforts have been preserved (, English Poets, xvi. 416-19). He was afterwards an usher in the free school at Wakefield, and while there took deacon's orders, and eked out his scanty income by taking Edmund Cartwright [q. v.] as a pupil during the vacations. In 1759 he went to Hackthorn, near Lincoln, as tutor to the sons of Robert Cracroft, and in the following year matriculated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, with the intention of taking the degree of bachelor of divinity as a ten-year man. He, however, left the university without taking any degree. Leaving Hackthorn in 1761, he went to Dagenham, Essex, where he officiated as curate to the Rev. Abraham Blackburn. In 1764 he was appointed curate and lecturer at St. John's, Clerkenwell, and soon afterwards commenced writing for the 'Monthly Review,' then under the editorship of Ralph Griffiths [q. v.] In December 1765 he was appointed assistant preacher at Lincoln's Inn by the preacher Dr. Richard Hurd, afterwards bishop of Worcester [q. v.] In the following year Langhorne published a small collection of 'Poetical Works' (London, 1766, 12mo, 2 vols.), which contained, among other pieces, 'The Fatal Prophecy: a dramatic poem,' written in 1765. In the same year (1766) he became rector of Blagdon, Somerset, and the university of Edinburgh is said to have granted him the honorary degree of D.D. in return for his 'Genius and Valour: a Scotch pastoral' (2nd edit. London, 1764, 4to), written in defence of the Scotch against the aspersions of Churchill in his 'Prophecy of Famine;' there is, however, no evidence of any such grant in the university registers. In January 1767, after a courtship of five years, he married Ann Cracroft, the sister of his old pupils, who died in giving birth to a son on 4 May 1768, aged 32, and was buried in the chancel of Blagdon Church. At her desire he published after her death his correspondence with her before marriage, under the title of 'Letters to Eleanora.' Leaving Blagdon shortly after his wife's death he went to reside with his elder brother William [see infra] at Folkestone, where they made their joint translation of 'Plutarch's Lives from the original Greek, with Notes Critical and Historical, and a new Life of Plutarch' (London, 1770, 8vo, 6 vols.) Though dull and commonplace, it was much more correct than North's spirited translation from the French of Amyot, or the unequal production known as Dryden's version, and though written more than 120 years ago, it still holds the field. Another edition was published in 1778, 8vo, 6vols.; the fifth edition corrected, London, 1792, and many others have followed down to 1879, Francis Wrangham edited four editions of this translation in 1810 (London, 12mo, 8 vols.), in 1818 (London, 8vo, 6 vols.), in 1819 (London, 8vo, 6 vols.), and in 1826 (London, 8vo, 6 vols.) It has also been published in Warne's 'Chandos Classics,' Ward and Lock's 'World Library of Standard Works,' Routledge's 'Excelsior Series,' and in Cassell's 'National Library.' On 12 Feb. 1772 Langhorne married, secondly, the daughter of a Mr. Thompson, a magistrate near Brough, Westmoreland. After a tour through France and Flanders he and his wife returned to Blagdon, where he was made a justice of the peace. His second wife died in giving birth to an only daughter in February 1776. He was installed a prebendary of Wells Cathedral in October 1777. His domestic misfortunes are said to have led him into intemperate habits. He died at Blagdon House on 1 April 1779, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and was buried at Blagdon.

Langhorne was a popular writer in his day, but his sentimental tales and his pretty verses have long ceased to please, and he is now best remembered as the joint translator of 'Plutarch's Lives.' His 'Poetical Works' were collected by his son, the Rev. John Theodosius Langhorne, vicar of Harmondsworth and Drayton, Middlesex (London, 1804, 8vo, 2 vols.) They will also be found in Chalmers's 'English Poets,' xvi. 415-75, and in several other poetical collections. A few of his letters to Hannah More are preserved in Roberts's 'Memoirs of Mrs. Hannah More,' 1835, i. 19-29. Besides editing a collection of his brother's sermons and publishing two separate sermons of his own, Langhorne was also the author of the following works: 1. 'The Death of Adonis, a pastoral elegy, from the Greek of Bion,' London, 1759, 4to. 2. 'The Tears of Music: a poem to the Memory of Mr. Handel, with an Ode to the River Eden,' London. 1760, 4to. 3. 'A Hymn to Hope,' London, 1761, 4to. 4. 'Solyman and Almena: an Oriental tale,' London, 1762, 12mo; another edition, London, 1781, 8vo; Cooke's edition, London, 1800, 12mo: reprinted with 'The Correspondence of Theodosius and Constantia,' in Walker's 'British Classics' (London, 1817, 8vo): appended to 'Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia,' &c., London [1821?], 8vo. 5. 'The Viceroy: a poem, addressed to the Earl of Halifax,' anon.' London, 1762, 4to. 6. 'Letters on Religious