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i. iiiircii- of the kingdom, to be If vied by a pound-rate on lands 

 tll * L nnd personal estates, which were occasionally continued 

 , 5iotne t ' urin (f the who'*-' usurpation After the Restoration, 

 .__ _. the ancient method of granting subsidies was only 

 twice renewed ; for the monthly assessments were now 

 established by custom, they were raised by commis- 

 sioners named by parliament, and, besides, produced 

 a more certain revenue. These periodical assess- 

 ments, as well as the subsidies which preceded them, 

 and the more ancient scutage, hydage, and talliage, 

 were, to all intents and purposes, a land-tax, and were 

 sometimes expressly called so. Yet an opinion has 

 prevailed, that the land-tax was first introduced in the 

 reign of king William III. because, in the year 1692, a 

 new assessment, or valuation of estates, was made 

 throughout the kingdom ; and, according to this valu- 

 ation, the land tax has continued an annual charge upon 

 the subject The method of raising it, is by charging a 

 particular sum upon each codnty, according to the va- 

 luation given in A. D. 1692 ; and this sum is assessed 

 and raised upon individuals, (their personal estates, as 

 well as real, being liable thereto,) by commissioners ap- 

 pointed in the act, being the principal landholders of 

 the county, and their officers. Blackstone's Comment. 

 b. i. ch. 8. 



In the year 1799- the land-tax, which, as has been 

 already observed, was formerly an annual tax, was made 

 perpetual, and offered for sale to the proprietors of the 

 land, or to any other persons who chose to purchase it. 

 In the course of the first year, after the passing o' this 

 act, upwards of ,13,000,000 was purchased ; and, since 

 that period, a great proportion of the land-tax has been 

 redeemed, (z) 



LANGENTHAL is one of the largest and finest 

 villages in Switzerland. It is situated in the county of 

 Berne, about half a league from the great road between 

 Berne and Arau. It is remarkable for its fine bleach- 

 fields, its dye-houses, and its manufacture of linen, and 

 ribbons, one half of which is wool, and the other silk. 

 This village is the depot of the cheeses of Emmenthal, 

 and of the cloths which are manufactured in the can- 

 ton of Berne. It has three fairs, and about 1 1 ,000 pieces 

 of cloth are annually sold, and exported to Spain, Por- 

 tugal, and America. The baths of Langenthal are si- 

 tuated about half a league from the village. Distance 

 from Berne 18 miles N. E. 



LANGHOLME, is a market town of Scotland, in 

 the county of Dumfries. It is situated near the river 

 Esk, and the great road from Edinburgh to Carlisle 

 passes through it. The town consists principally of 

 one street, which contains some good houses. Lang- 

 holme is a burgh of barony, belonging to the Duke 

 of Buccleuch, who is the proprietor of the greater part 

 of the parish. About half a mile from the town is si- 

 tuated the village of New Langholme, at the conflu- 

 ence of the Wauchope and the Esk. It consists of about 

 100 houses, built upon a plain, on feus granted by the 

 Duke of Buccleuch. A cotton manufacture was esta- 

 blished in it, which employed about 1 00 persons. Lang- 

 holme has a weekly market, and four fairs, one of which 

 is held on the 26th of July, and is one of the greatest 

 in Scotland for lambs. Langholme Lodge, the seat of 

 the Duke of Buccleuch, is situated near the town, in a 

 delightful valley, surrounded with hills covered with 

 wood. The population of Langholme is about 1500, 

 and that of New Langholme 600. The population of 

 the parish, in 1801, was 2039; and, in 1811, 2636. 



LANGHORNE, JOHN, D. D. an English poet and 

 miscellaneous writer of some eminence, was born at 



Kirby-Stephen in Westmoreland ; but the precise year Laghom' 

 of his birth has not been ascertained. .Little informa- Lan S rt * j 

 tion has been preserved with regard to the particulars * "Y"* 

 of his life. His father, the Rev. Joseph Llmghorne of 

 Winston, died when his son was young ; leaving him 

 and his brother William to the care of their mother. 

 The place of his education is not known ; his name is 

 not to be found in the list of graduates either of Oxford 

 or Cambridge. 



He first appeared as an author in 1 758, when seve- 

 ral pieces of poetry, written by him, were inserted in 

 the Grand Magazine, a periodical work published by 

 Mr. Ralph Griffiths, the proprietor of the Monthly Rc~ 

 view. His first publication was Tlie Dtnth of Adonis, a 

 Pastoral Elegy, from Bion, 4to, 16V59; which was fol- 

 lowed, in the same year, by The Ti'ars of Music, a Poem, 

 to the Memory of Mr. Handel, with an Ode to the River 

 Eden, 4to. Having taken orders, he became tutor to 

 the sons of Robert Crancroft, Esq. of Hackthorne, in 

 Lincolnshire; and, in 1760, he published, at Lincoln, 

 a volume of Poems on several Occasions, 4to. for the be- 

 nefit of a gentleman in distress. Soon after he repair- 

 ed to London, where he engaged as a writer in the 

 Monthly Review, espoused the interest of Lord Bute, 

 and published various performances in prose and verse. 

 In 1764, he published Sermons, in 2 vols. K'mo. In 

 the month of December 1765, he was appointed assist- 

 ant preacher at Lincoln's Inn, probably through the 

 interest of Warburton, to whom he had dedicated his 

 Letters of Thfodosins and Conxtnnlii. In 1766, he pub- 

 lished his Poetical Works, in 2 vols. 12mo. About this 

 time, he obtained the valuable rectory of Blagdon in 

 Somersetshire, which he held until his death, and was 

 appointed a prebendary of Wells. In 1 767, he mar- 

 ried Miss Crancroft, the sister of his former pupils, who 

 soon after died in childbed of a daughter, and was pa- 

 thetically lamented by her husband in some verses to 

 her memory. In the year 1 770, he published, in con- 

 junction with his brother, Plutarch's Lives, translated 

 from the original Greek, with Notes critical and explana- 

 tory, and a nen> Life of Plutarch, in six vols. 8vo. He 

 died, after a lingering illness, at Blagdon House, on the 

 1st of April 1779; 



The private character of- Langhorne appears to have 

 been amiable and respectable. His works are very nu- 

 merous ; but of his prose writings, none have obtained 

 much popularity, excepting his Soli/man mid Almena, 

 Thcodosiiis and Constanlia, and his translation of Plu- 

 tarch's Lives. As a poet, he exhibited undoubted marks 

 of genius, imagination, and sensibility ; and some of 

 his verses hold a respectable rank among the produc- 

 tions of our minor poets. His chief faults appear to 

 be an occasional redundancy of diction, and an affecta- 

 tion of false and unnecessary ornament. See the Life 

 of Langhorne, in Anderson's edition of the Poets ; and 

 the Gen. Biog. Diet, (z) 



LANGRES is a town of France, and the chief place 

 of a district, in the department of the Upper Mame. 

 It is situated at a greater height than an}' town in 

 France, and has a fine appearance at a distance, when 

 approached from the side of Vesoul. Some of the 

 streets are wide, and many of the houses commodious 

 and well built. The church of St. Martin, which has 

 a lofty tower, is a large and handsome building. There 

 is a fine promenade between the two gates on the road 

 from Vesoul. Langres is famous for its cutlery, and 

 its scissars have long been celebrated. There are also 

 extensive paper works in the town. Population. 

 7858. 



