JOHN

See also:

• JOHN LANGHORNE (1735–1779)

LANGHORNE (1735–1779)  , English poet and translator of Plutarch, was born at Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland . He at first supported himself as a private tutor and schoolmaster, and, having taken orders, was appointed (1766) to the rectory of Blagdon, Somerset, where he died on the 1st of April 1779 . His poems (original and translations), and sentimental tales, are now forgotten, but his translation of Plutarch's Lives (1770), in which he had the co-operation of his elder brother William (1721–1772), is not yet superseded . It is far less vigorous than Sir Thomas North's version (translated from Amyot) but is free from its inaccuracies . His poems were published in 1804 by his son, J . T . Langhorne, with a memoir of the author; they will also be found in R . Anderson's Poets of Great Britain, xi . (1794) and A . Chalmers's English Poets, xvi . (181o), with memoir . Of his poems, The Country Justice, a plea for the neglected poor, and The Fables of Flora, were the most successful; of his prose writings, The Correspondence between Theodosius and Constantia, founded on a well-known story in the Spectator (No .

164) .