792 
YOUNG. 
Human Life,” exhibiting the dark side of the picture; and a 
sermon preached before the house of commons on the 30th 
of January, entitled “ An Apology for Princes, or the Re¬ 
verence due to Government;” a subject not unappropriate 
to his situation as royal chaplain. In 1730, Dr. Young was 
presented by his college to the rectory of Welwyn, in Hert¬ 
fordshire ; and in the following year he married lady Eliza¬ 
beth Lee, widow of colonel Lee, and daughter of the earl of 
Lichfield. Before this time he had resumed his poetical pen, 
and written “ Imperium Pelagi, a Naval Lyric;” “Two 
Epistles to Mr. Pope, concerning the Authors of the Age;” 
and “ The Sea-Piece,” in two odes, dedicated to Voltaire. 
By his wife, who died in 1741, he had one son; and this 
circumstance, together with some other domestic losses that 
occurred about the same period, increased that melancholy 
and depression of mind to which he was constitutionally in¬ 
clined. When he married lady Lee, she had a son, and also 
two daughters, the eldest of whom, denominated by him 
Narcissa, falling into a decline, went to the south of France, 
and died at Lyons in 1736. Her husband, Mr. Temple, 
supposed to be the poet’s Philander, died in 1740 ; and his 
own lady died in 1741. If he referred to these events in 
the annexed lines, he must have taken a chronological licence 
hardly allowable even to a poet: 
“ Insatiate archer! could not one suffice? 
Thy shaft flew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain ; 
And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had filled her horn.” 
It is certain that he began to write his “ Night Thoughts” 
in the year 1741; and the occasion, as he declares, was real, 
and not fictitious. The seventh of these poems is dated in 
1744, and the interval must have been occupied in the com¬ 
position of them. Notwithstanding the sublime strains in 
which the author expresses his pious feeling, he is not re¬ 
gardless of the patronage of distinguished persons, for to 
such he inscribes them. On this work Dr. Young bestowed 
much attention and labour, and he valued it as the chief of 
his productions. Among his other works we may mention 
a poem written as an expression of his loyalty in 1745, and 
entitled “ Some Thoughts occasioned by the present Junc¬ 
ture, inscribed to the duke of Newcastle;” “ The Centaur 
not fabulous, in Six Letters to a Friend, on the Life in Vogue,” 
an overcharged picture of the existing manners; and “ A 
Sermon preached before their Majesties,” with a dedication 
to the king, 1758. Dr. Young, notwithstanding his genius 
and piety, and his solicitude to obtain preferment, seems to 
have been disregarded; and though archbishop Seeker ex¬ 
presses his surprise that he had been overlooked by persons 
in power, he declines any interference in his favour. It 
should be recollected, however, that the attention which he 
paid to Frederick, prince of Wales, during his variance with 
his father, was not forgotten ; nor indeed would his junction 
of the poetical and clerical character be any recommenda¬ 
tion to George II. But the reason of his name’s being struck 
out of the list of court-chaplains on the accession of his late 
majesty is not known; it is the more unaccountable, as he 
was soon after appointed clerk of the closet to the princess 
dowager of Wales. 
In his retreat at Welwyn he maintained a respectable and 
dignified character ; and though the cast of his mind seems 
to have been gloomy, he was an agreeable and lively com¬ 
panion. The close of his life, however, was rather discon¬ 
solate than cheerful. The conduct of his only son, sup¬ 
posed to be the Lorenzo of the Night Thoughts, who is 
said to have been a rake and free-thinker, afforded him re¬ 
newed opportunities lor reproof and sarcasm, and must have 
been the occasion of poignant grief; though Mr. II Croft 
vindicates his character, alleging that he was only eight years 
old when his father began that poem. But others have as¬ 
serted that he was alarmed and grieved on his account; and 
that, notwithstanding the favourable change which took 
place in his sentiments and character, his father would not 
admit him to any interview in his latter years : and even on 
his death-bed he refused to see him, though he assured him 
of his forgiveness, and made him his heir. Towards the 
close of his life, he surrendered himself to the influence of a 
housekeeper, and from some mismanagement in his concerns, 
and a growing disposition to avarice, he became irritable in 
temper and depressed in spirits. His last production was a 
poem, entitled “ Resignation,” printed in 1762, which in¬ 
dicated the decline of his mental powers. His life was pro¬ 
longed to the year 1765, and he then died in his 84th year. 
He was interred in the church of Welwyn, and his son erect¬ 
ed a monument near the remains of both his parents. 
Dr. Young is known principally, if not wholly, as a 
poet; and his compositions in this department are distri¬ 
buted into satires, tragedies, and night thoughts. His satires 
are founded on the questionable principle, that the love of 
fame is the universal passion of mankind; and as he did 
not excel in judgment, they are exercises of wit and inven¬ 
tion rather than grave exposures of vice and folly. As a 
dramatic writer, he is charged with not understanding or not 
adhering to nature, and with indulging his imagination and 
feeling, and running into exaggeration of character and bom¬ 
bast of expression. The only tragedy that has kept pos¬ 
session of the stage is his “ Revenge,” the Zanga of which 
is said to have no competitor for theatric effect among the 
personages of modern tragedies. His “ Night Thoughts” 
are deemed original in design and execution. Whatever 
were the causes that produced them, they are adapted to 
excite devout feeling, and to produce moral effect, though 
they are justly complained of as in some places unintelligi¬ 
ble, and as affording too much scope for criticism. To 
many readers, the theology on which they are founded and 
which they express is too awful and severe, and not so well 
calculated to sooth and pacify the human mind under trouble 
as the gentler and more consolatory dictates of Christianity. 
They are sometimes tedious and prolix. They will never 
be neglected as long as taste and susceptibility of virtuous 
and religious impressions remain. The lyric attempts of Dr. 
Young are said to have been singularly unfortunate. From 
the edition of his works published in his lifetime in 4 vols. 
8vo., he himself excluded several compositions which he 
thought of inferior merit. Biog. Brit. Croft's Life of 
Young in Johnson's English Poets. Gen. Biog. 
YOUNG (Patrick), ( Patricius Junius, Lat.l, an eminent 
scholar, was born in 1584, at the seat of his father, Sir Peter 
Young, who had been co-tutor with Buchanan to James VI. 
of Scotland, at Seaton in Lothian. Educated in the univer¬ 
sity of St. Andrew’s, and accompanying his father in the suite 
of King James, he was employed for some time as librarian 
and secretary, by Dr. Lloyd, bishop of Chester. In 1605 he 
assumed the degree of M.A. which he had before taken at St. 
Andrew’s, and entering into orders, became chaplain at All 
Souls’ college. During his residence at Oxford he occupied 
himself in the study of ecclesiastical history and antiquities, 
and also the Greek language; and upon his removal to Lon¬ 
don, he obtained a pension of 50/. a year, and was occasion¬ 
ally employed by the king and persons in power in writing 
Latin letters. His patron was Montagu, bishop of Bath and 
Wells, who procured for him the appointment of librarian to 
the king. In 1617 he was introduced at Paris, by the re¬ 
commendation of Camden, to the learned men of that city; 
and upon his return, he assisted Thomas Rhead in making a 
Latin version of the works of King James. In 1620 he mar¬ 
ried, and afterwards was advanced to several preferments in 
the church; and succeeded Rhead in 1624 as Latin secretary. 
Unknown by any publication, he was nevertheless honoured 
as a person of distinguished literature, who rendered accep¬ 
table and useful services to learned men. In this way, he 
was the coadjutor of Selden in the examination of the Arun- 
delian marbles; and when they were published by this cele¬ 
brated antiquary, he dedicated the work to Young. He was 
also employed in collating the Alexandrian MS. of the Bible 
with other copies; and as the result of his labours, he com¬ 
municated many various readings to Grotius, Usher, and 
other persons. It was his intention to have edited a fac-simile 
of this MS., but his design was never executed. He pub¬ 
lished, however, in 1633, from this MS. the “ Epistles of 
Clemens Romanus,” and he proposed editing the curious 
MSS. 
