HORNE, George, an English prelate of considerable eminence, was born in the vicinity of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, in the year 1730. His father was rector of Otham; and having for some time acted in the capacity of tutor at Oxford, was well qualified to superintend the education of his son. However, that the latter might not be spoiled by too long a residence at home, he was, by the advice of a friend, sent, at the age of thirteen, to Maidstone school, where he continued under an eminent teacher for two years, and acquired some knowledge of oriental literature, particularly the Hebrew. In his fifteenth year he went to Oxford, where he laboured inde∙ fatigably to store his mind with almost every branch of useful learning, and resolved to make polite literature subservient to the knowledge and illustration of the Scrip [7:11:564]tures. He studied the Hebrew more attentively, and was exhorted to abandon the method of Buxtorf, encumbered as it is with the Masoretic punctuation. The rectitude of his conduct, and the vivacity of his conversation, gained him the esteem of every person with whom he was acquainted. īn the year 1749 he was made bachelor of arts, and next year was elected to a fellowship in Magdalen College, without any solicitation upon his part.

About this time he became a proselyte to the mysteries of Hutchinsonianism, chiefly through the influence of Mr William Jones. At the age of nineteen, his mind was completely fettered by these doctrines, believing that it was the design of Sir Isaac Newton and Dr Clarke to subvert the theology of the Scriptures, and introduce the stoical anima mundi instead of the God of the Universe. Under the influence of such an infatuation, it is not astonishing that he should have endeavoured to discredit the system of Newton. He obtained the degree of master of arts in the year 1752, when he engaged in a controversy on the subject of the Cherubim. With a view to recommend the writings of Hutchinson, he published, A fair, candid, and impartial state of the case between Sir Isaac Newton and Mr Hutchinson, in which is shown, how far a system of physics is capable of mathematical demonstration; how far Sir Isaac’s, as such a system, has that demonstration; and consequently, what regard Mr Hutchinson’s claim may deserve to have paid it. In the year 1753 Mr Horne entered into holy orders, and acquired high reputation as a public speaker, his compositions being excellent, and his elocution graceful. Whilst preaching before the university, he introduced seme of his peculiar notions, which again led him into controversy. A pamphlet made its appearance, entitled A Word to the Hutchinsonians; or, remarks on three extraordinary sermons lately preached before the university of Oxford, by Dr Patten, Mr Wetherell, and Mr Horne. To this our author replied in an Apology for certain gentlemen in the university of Oxford, aspersed in a late anonymous pamphlet. The vindication of the hint to the Hutchinsonians was supposed to be the production of Dr Kennicot, who afterwards became so famous for his labours in collating Hebrew manuscripts, and his valuable edition of the Hebrew Bible. Mr Horne was chosen proctor of the university in 1758; and, on the honourable terminaticn of his authority, was created bachelor of divinity. When Mr, afterwards Dr Kennicot, gave to the world proposals for collating the text of the Hebrew Bible, for the purpose of correcting the original, and preparing for a new translation, Mr Horne became very much alarmed. He apprehended that the adoption of such a measure would overwhelm the sacred text with licentious criticism; and on this ground he published, in 1760, A View of Mr Kennicot’s method of correcting the Hebrew text, with three queries formed thereon, and humbly submitted to the consideration of the learned and Christian world. But an acquaintance which thus began in hostility was afterwards converted into genuine friendship, which continued throughout the whole of life.

In 1764, Mr Horne was created doctor in divinity, although not as yet advanced to any conspicuous station. On the death of Dr Jenner, the president of Magdalen College, in the beginning of 1768, Dr Horne was appointed to succeed him in a post at once honourable and valuable; after which he exchanged a single for a married life. Next year he published Considerations on the Life and Death of St John the Baptist, being the substance of several sermons preached by. him before the university. In 1771 he was chosen chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, which he held for ten years. In 1772, when a number of clergymen had formed the resolution of petitioning parliament for relief as to subscribing the liturgy and thirty-nine articles, Dr Horne determined, if possible, to defeat their object; and for this purpose he published Considerations on the projected Reformation of the Church of England, in a letter to Lord North.

He now set about finishing his greatest work, which had occupied his attention for almost twenty years. This was his Commentary on the Book of Psalms, which appeared in 1776, in two volumes quarto. It exhibits profound erudition and fervent piety, and will be perused with pleasure and advantage by every judge of merit. In the same year he was chosen vice-chancellor of the university, which he held till the end of the year 1780. On the publication of Dr Adam Smith’s letter, containing an account of the death of Mr David Hume, Dr Horne publicly animadverted upon it, in A Letter to Adam Smith, LL.D, on the life, death, and philosophy of his friend David Hume, Esq. by one of the people called Christians. In 1779, Dr Horne published, in two volumes octavo, Discourses on various subjects and occasions, which have procured the approbation of all description of readers.

As vice-chancellor of the university he became acquainted with Lord North, to whose interest, joined with that of Lord Hawkesbury, he was in 1781 indebted for the deanery of Canterbury. His time was now divided between that city and Oxford; and the conscientious discharge of every part of his complex duty made him universally beloved. In 1784 he published Letters on Infidelity, similar to his reply to Dr Adam Smith. The books against which he levelled his ridicule are, An Apology for the Life and Writings of David Hume, Esq.; Hume’s Dialogues on Natural Religion; an Essay on Suicide by the same author, and a treatise entitled Doubts of the Infidels. In the year 1790, when Dr Bagot was translated to the see of St Asaph, Dr Horne was appointed to succeed him in the see of Norwich. His last literary labours were, Observations on the case of the Protestant Dissenters with reference to the Corporation and Test Acts, 1790; and a Charge intended to have been delivered to the clergy of the diocese of Norwich, at his first visitation, 1791. When he was raised to the episcopal dignity, his health, always delicate, began rapidly to decline; but from the waters of Bath he received great relief, and to this place he repaired a third time in the harvest of 1791. On his way thither, however, he was seized with a stroke of palsy, and after languishing for a few weeks, he died at Bath, on the 17th of January 1792, in the sixty-second year of his age.

He was powerfully animated in his last moments by those hopes which spring from the promises of the gospel, and the inexpressible satisfaction of a well-spent life. ∏is erudition was extensive, his piety sincere, and his life irreproachable. His charity, both of a public and private nature, was extensive; and if not in debt at the end of the year, he felt perfectly satisfied. His posthumous works are, Discourses on several Subjects and Occasions; a volume of Sermons; and, Cautions to the Readers of Mr Law.