Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 57.djvu/108

 gallery created an uproar, and the privileges hitherto accorded to livery had to be withdrawn.

First published by Newbery at the Bible and Sun as ‘High Life below Stairs, a Farce of Two Acts, as it is performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, “O imitatores servum pecus!”’ (with an advertisement dated 5 Nov. 1759), it went through many editions, was translated into German and French, and has been frequently produced upon the stage in all parts of the world.

Townley's two other farces, ‘False Concord’—given at Covent Garden on 20 March 1764 for the benefit of Woodward—and ‘The Tutor’—seen at Drury Lane on 4 Feb. 1765—were not successful. It is to be remarked, however, says a writer (probably his son-in-law, Roberdeau) in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ (1805, i. 110), ‘that “False Concord” contains three characters, Lord Lavender, Mr. Suds, an enriched soap-boiler, and a pert valet, who are not only the exact Lord Ogleby, Mr. Sterling, and Brush of the “Clandestine Marriage,” brought out in 1767 by Colman and Garrick conjointly, but that part of the dialogue is nearly verbatim.’ As ‘False Concord’ was never printed, there is no means of verifying this statement; but it is broadly ‘supposed that many of Mr. Garrick's best productions and revisals partook of Mr. Townley's assisting hand.’ It is known that Townley materially assisted another friend, William Hogarth, in his ‘Analysis of Beauty.’ He was known among his friends for his neat gift of impromptu epigram. In the pulpit he was admired for his impressive delivery and skill in adapting his remarks to his auditory. His later preferments were the rectory of St. Benet's, Gracechurch Street (27 July 1749), and St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, 1749, and the vicarage of Hendon in Middlesex (patron, David Garrick), which he held from 3 Nov. 1772 until the close of 1777. His curate was Henry Bate, ‘the fighting parson’ [see ]. Townley died on 15 July 1778. A tablet was erected to his memory in St. Benet's, Gracechurch Street.

He married, in 1740, Jane Bonnin of Windsor, a descendant from the Poyntz family and related to Lady Spencer, through whose influence came some of his preferments. Townley's daughter Elizabeth (d. 1809) married [q. v.] His son James, who was entered at Merchant Taylors' in 1756, became a proctor in Doctors' Commons.

A portrait of James Townley was engraved by Charles Townley in 1794; a second was drawn and engraved by H. D. Thielcke.



TOWNLEY, JAMES (1774–1833), Wesleyan divine, son of Thomas Townley, a Manchester tradesman, was born at that town on 11 May 1774, and educated by the Rev. [q. v.] of Macclesfield. He became a member of the Wesleyan methodist body in 1790, and a minister in 1796. In 1822 he received the degree of D.D. from the college of Princeton, New Jersey, in recognition of his literary work. From 1827 to 1832 he acted as general secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and in 1829 was elected president of the Wesleyan conference, and presided at the Dublin and Leeds conferences. While in Manchester he was a member of a philological society founded by Dr. Adam Clarke. He died at Ramsgate on 12 Dec. 1833. He was twice married—to Mary Marsden and Dinah Ball, both of London—and had seven children by his first wife. A portrait by John Jackson, R.A., was engraved in 1829.

Townley, a good preacher and an accomplished linguist, wrote: Among his contributions to the ‘Methodist Magazine,’ besides those included in his volume of ‘Essays,’ are (1) ‘On the Character of Popery,’ 1826; (2) ‘Claims of the Church of Rome Examined,’ 1827; (3) ‘Ancient and Foreign Missions,’ four articles, 1834.
 * 1) ‘Biblical Anecdotes,’ 1813, 12mo.
 * 2) ‘Illustrations of Biblical Literature, exhibiting the History and Fate of the Sacred Writings from the Earliest Times to the Present Century,’ 1821, 3 vols. 8vo.
 * 3) ‘Essays on various Subjects of Ecclesiastical History and Antiquity,’ 1824, 8vo.
 * 4) ‘The Reasons of the Laws of Moses, from the “More Nevochim” of Maimonides, with Notes, Dissertations, and a Life of the Author,’ 1827, 8vo.
 * 5) ‘An Introduction to the Literary History of the Bible,’ 1828, 8vo.



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