LAN 
.contemplative dlfpofition, availed herfelf of the inftrue- 
tions of the domeftic tutor; a natural confequence of 
which was, an amorous attachment on the part of Lang- 
horne, which he had reafon to fuppofe mutual. The dif- 
parity of circumltances, however, upon the declaration of 
his paflion, produced a refufal for the prefent, and he im¬ 
mediately afterwards quitted the place. In 1761 he offi¬ 
ciated as curate to the clergyman of Dagenham, in Effex. 
Several poems written and puhlifhed about this time, made 
his name known among the votaries of the mufe ; and in 
1761 he appeared as a profe writer, by his Letters on reli¬ 
gious Retirement, Melancholy, and Enthufiafm, and by 
his eattern tale of Solyman and Almena. Another office 
jn which his pen was engaged was th,at of one ot the cri¬ 
tics in that refpechible periodical work, the Monthly Re¬ 
view. We are told, that in this employment he exercifed 
a vein of ridicule which created him many enemies. He 
was certainly too young for a fober critic. 
A work publifhed in 1765, under the title of Letters 
fuppofed to have palled between Tiieodofius and Conftan- 
tia, (founded on a ftory in the Spectator,) became popu¬ 
lar, and obtained conliderable appl.aufe. Being now en¬ 
rolled among the profelfed vvritersof the age, he removed, in 
1764, to the great mart of literature, the metropolis, where 
he was appointed" to the curacy and leflurelhip of St. 
John’s, Clerkenwell. In that year he publifhed two vo¬ 
lumes of Sermons, which he chofe to entitle Trails of Re¬ 
ligious Phiiofophy, but which feem to have conduced lit¬ 
tle to his reputation as a divine. He, however, obtained 
from Dr. Hurd the appointment of afliftant preacher at 
Lincoln’s Inn; and, by his Letters on the Eloquence of 
the Pulpit, did not hefitate to challenge peculiar attention 
to his own performances. His Letters to and from Seleit 
Friends, or Effufions of Friendfhip and Fancy, added to 
his fame as a lentimental writer. By fome of his former 
pieces, anil the dedications to them, he (howed a delire of 
ingratiating himfelf with rank and influence ; and he is 
Laid to have drawn his pen in defence of lord Bute and the 
exilling miniftry. An avowed work of his, Genius and 
Valour, a paftoral poem, the fcope of which was to vin¬ 
dicate the natives of Scotland from the rancorous abufe 
thrown upon them by Churchill and other party-writers, 
could not fail of being agreeable to that nobleman and 
his countrymen ; and produced, in 1766, a complimen¬ 
tary letter from the uniVerfity of Edinburgh, with a di¬ 
ploma of doflor in divinity. 
He was now in a llation of refpeflability that gave 
weight to the amorous fuit which he had not ceafed to 
keep alive ; and in 1767 he obtained the hand of the be¬ 
loved lady. The living of Blagdon in Sornerfetftiire was 
purchafed, and afforded a deArable refidence to the new- 
married couple; but this happy union was fatally dif- 
folved by the death of Mrs. Langhorne in child-bed, in 
the enfuing year. Not able to bear the fcene of his lofs, 
he retired to the houfe of his brother William, a clergy¬ 
man at Folkllone in Kent, where he met with the tooth¬ 
ings of truly fraternal affedfion. In this retreat he wifely 
occupied his mind with a literary talk of fome labour and 
extent; and the two brothers jointly produced a new ver- 
fion of Plutarch’s Lives, with notes critical and explana¬ 
tory, and a life of the author, which was publilhed in 
1771, and met with a favourable reception. He alfo wrote 
a let of Letters fuppofed to have palled between St. Evre- 
mond and Waller, 2 vols. 121110. 1769; and Frederic and 
Pharamond, 01 s the Confolations of Human Life, a philo- 
fophical difcourfe. A poetical work, poffeffing confider- 
able novelty of delign and imagery, came from his hand 
in 1771 ; this was his Fables of Flora. The attempt to 
perfonify and give character to fubjects of the vegetable 
creation is evidently adding to the ordinary difficulties of 
fable, and it is fcarcely poflible to fix an interell upon 
fuch inanimate beings. It is not, therefore, to be won¬ 
dered at that thefe pieces are generally languid, and that 
the poet often ftrains hard for his moral. The work, 
■however, from its fancy and defcriptive elegance, acquired 
LAN 15! 
popularity. In the fame year he wrote another poemj> 
entitled, The Origin of the Veil. 
A vilit to his native county, in 1772, produced a fe- 
cond matrimonial connection, with the beautiful daugh¬ 
ter of a magiftrate near Brough. After indulging him¬ 
felf and his bride with a tour to the continent, he fill 
dow n again at his living of Blagdon. To the duties of 3 
clergyman he added thofe of ajuiticeof the peace; and, 
at the inlligation of his friend Dr. Burn, he gave to the 
world his ideas of this important office in his poem of 
The Country Jultice. Of this, the firlt part appeared ill 
1774, and was juftly admired for the manly ltrain of its 
fentiments, and the beauty of its defcriptions. Two other 
parts were afterwards added, of inferior merit. The lofs 
of his f'econd wife, alfo in child-bed, in 1776, mull have 
been a fevere ftroke. It was in fome meafure alleviated 
by the connexions in the great world which his reputa¬ 
tion had procured him ; one of the fruits of which was, 
a prefentation to a prebend in the cathedral of Wells, in 
1777, by the bifliop of that fee, a relation of the Bouverie 
family. He continued, notwithllanding a declining ftate 
of health, to amufe himfelf and the public with writings 
of different kinds, the lail of which was a romantic tale, 
entitled, Owen of Carron, much admired by the lovers of 
fancied fimplicity, but, in reality, affeCled and finical. 
He died at Blagdon, in April 1779, in the forty-fifth 
year of his age. 
Dr. Langhorne is reprefented as a man of amiable man¬ 
ners, fond of fociety, but rather too much addicted to 
convivial indulgences, which probably fhortened his life. 
As a writer, he cannot be ranked among thofe of the high- 
eft order; yet he poffeffes facility, elegance, ingenuity, 
and tendernefs. His poetry is generally harmonious, 
abounding in pleating imagery, but overloaded with orna¬ 
ment, and not free from obfcurity and affeflation. His 
profe-writings are rather light and flowery than folid and 
natural. His ferinons have been cenfured for the loofe 
foft texture of their ftyle, and the falfe pathos of their 
fentiment. In religion he was inclined to enthufiafm 5 
but the morality of all his works is pure and rational. Ar.- 
de Jon's Brit. Poets. 
LAN'GIA, a river of Peloponnefus, falling into the 
bay of Corinth. 
LAN'GIN, a town of France, in the department of 
Mont Blanc : fix miles north of Bonne. 
LAN'GINES, a fmall ifland of Denmark, in the North 
Sea, near the weft coaft of South Jutland : two miles north- 
weft from the ifland of Nordftrand. 
LANGIO'NE, a town of the kingdom of Laos, of 
which it is by fome called the capital. Lat. 22. 30. N. 
LAN'GLE’s BAY, a bay on the weft coaft of the ifland 
of Saghalien, fo called by Monf. La Peroufe. Lat. 47.49. N. 
Ion. 142.49. E. 
LANGLE’s PEAK, a mountain on the north coaft of 
the ifland of Jeffo, more than 1200 toifes above the level 
of the fea. Lat. 45.25. N. Ion. 412. 20. E. 
LANG'LEY. See Abbot’s Langley, vol. i. and 
King’s Langley, vol. xi. 
LANG'LEY BROO'M, a fcattered village in Bucking- 
hamihire, eighteen miles weft-fouth-weft from London, 
to the right of the road to Colnbrook. The pariffi con- 
fifts of three diftricls, called Weftmore Green, Horfemore 
Green, and the Southern or Middle Green ; in the laft of 
which is the elegant feat of Mr. Irby, and a neat houfe 
built by Mr. Webb, and the refidence of Robert Spragge, 
efq. Langley Broom was frequently appointed by his 
majefty as the rendezvous for turning out the deer, and for 
meeting the nobility previous to the chafe. 
Langley Park, the feat of fir Robert Batefon Harvey, 
bart. is a liandfome ftone building, erefted by the late 
duke of Marlborough. It is in the centre of a fine park, 
abounding with a variety of fine timber. A piece of wa¬ 
ter runs along the fouth front of the houfe, at the foot of 
a Hoping lawn, on which are fcattered fome beautiful 
clumps of trees, and other woodland feenery. A riling 
& ground 
