Thomas Francklin (1721 – 15 March 1784) was an English academic, clergyman, writer and dramatist
Life
Francklin was the son of Richard Francklin, bookseller near the Piazza in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, London, who printed
William Pulteney's paper ''The Craftsman''. Francklin was admitted to
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...
in 1735. On the advice of Pulteney he was educated for the church: but Pulteney gave him no subsequent help in life. In 1739 he went to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, where he was admitted on 21 June 1739, and took the degrees of B.A. in 1742, M.A. 1746, and D.D. in 1770. In 1745 he was elected to a minor fellowship, was promoted in the next year to be "socius major", and resided in college until the end of 1758.
He was for some time an usher in his old school, and then on 27 June 1750 was elected as
Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge. Later in the same year he was involved in a dispute with the heads of the university. Forty-six old boys of Westminster met between eight and nine o'clock on 17 November at the Tuns Tavern to commemorate, as was their custom, the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and Francklin was in the chair. The party was about to separate at eleven o'clock, when the senior proctor appeared and called on them to disperse: hot words ensued. Several pamphlets were published, and among them was one from Francklin entitled ''An Authentic Narrative of the late Extraordinary Proceedings at Cambridge against the W … r Club'', 1751.
He resigned his professorship in 1759, and that year was instituted, on the presentation of his college, to the vicarage of
Ware, Hertfordshire, which he held in conjunction with the lectureship of
St Paul's, Covent Garden, and a proprietary chapel in Queen Street, London. He was appointed king's chaplain in November 1767, and was selected to preach the commencement sermon at
St. Mary's, Cambridge, on the installation of
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, as chancellor of the university in 1770. Through the favour of Archbishop
Frederick Cornwallis he was appointed in 1777 to the rectory of
Brasted in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and vacated the living of Ware.
Francklin died in
Great Queen Street, London, on 15 March 1784. He married, on 20 January 1759, Miss Venables, the daughter of a wine merchant; she died in Great Queen Street on 24 May 1796.
Work
For most of his life Francklin wrote for the press and for the stage. Two of his plays were successful through good acting. He brought out in 1757 a periodical paper of his own composition entitled ''The Centinel'', and he was one of the contributors to
Tobias Smollett's ''Critical Review''.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...
and
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depende ...
were among his friends, and through their influence he became chaplain to the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...
on its foundation, and on
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel '' The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem '' The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his ...
's death in 1774 succeeded to the professorship of ancient history.
With other literary men he was unpopular. One of his victims in the ''Critical Review'' was
Arthur Murphy, who solaced his feelings of indignation in "A Poetical Epistle to Samuel Johnson, A.M."
Charles Churchill, in the ''Rosciad'', sneeringly says that 'he sicken'd at all triumphs but his own.'
Francklin's most solid works consisted of translations and tragedies. His first was an anonymous rendering of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...
's treatise, ''
Of the Nature of the Gods
''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') is a philosophical dialogue by Roman Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three books that discuss the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophies of ...
''; it appeared in 1741, was reissued in 1775, and, after revision by
Charles Duke Yonge, formed a part of one of the volumes in
Bohn's Classical Library. In 1749 he published ''The Epistles of Phalaris translated from the Greek; to which are added some select epistles of the most eminent Greek writers''. His translation of the tragedies of
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
was long considered the best in the English language. It came out in 1759, and was reprinted in 1809 and 1832; large selections from it were included in Ezekiel Sanford's ''British Poets'', vol. l., and it was included in
Henry Morley
Henry Morley (15 September 1822 – 14 May 1894) was an English academic who was one of the earliest professors of English literature in Great Britain. Morley wrote a popular book containing biographies of famous English writers.
Life
The son o ...
's ''
Universal Library'' (vol. xliv.), while a separate impression of the ''
Œdipus Tyrannus
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
'' was made in 1806.
His version of ''The Works of Lucian from the Greek'', which was produced in 1780 in two volumes,
volume II
and appeared in a second edition in 1781. The whole work was dedicated to
Richard Rigby, and parts were inscribed to other eminent men. His translation of
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstiti ...
's ''Trips to the Moon'' formed vol. LXXI of ''
Cassell's National Library'', edited by Henry Morley.
Francklin's plays are:
* ''The Earl of Warwick'', which was produced at Drury Lane Theatre on 13 December 1766, and was often represented. On its first appearance
Mary Ann Yates
Mary Ann Yates (1728–1787) was an English tragic actress. The daughter of William Graham, a ship's steward and his wife, Mary, she married Richard Yates (c. 1706-1796), a well-known comedian of the time.
In 1754, aged 25, she appeared at Dru ...
created a great impression in the part of Margaret of Anjou, and
Sarah Siddons in later years made that character equally successful. The whole play, which is said to have been taken without acknowledgement from the French of
Jean-François de La Harpe, was printed in 1766 and 1767, and was included in the collections of Bell,
Elizabeth Inchbald, Dibdin, and many others.
* ''Matilda'', first presented at Drury Lane on 21 January 1775, was also profitable to the author. It appeared in print in 1775, and was also included in theatrical collections.
* ''The Contract'', brought out at the Haymarket on 12 June 1776, and printed in the same year, was a failure. The chief characters were two persons who had made a contract of marriage, parted, and on meeting again after many years, wished the engagement broken off.
* ''Mary Queen of Scots'', which was several times announced but was never acted, and remained in manuscript until 1837, when it was edited by the author's eldest son, Lieutenant-colonel
William Francklin.
Francklin's other literary productions were numerous. Their titles were:
* 'Translation,' a poem, 1753, which condemned many previous attempts at translation, and appealed to abler men to undertake the task, ending with the preliminary puff of his proposal to print by subscription a version of Sophocles.
* 'Enquiry into the Astronomy and Anatomy of the Ancients,' 1749, and said to have been reprinted in 1775.
* 'Truth and Falsehood, a Tale,' 1755, issued anonymously, and panegyrising the then Duchess of Bedford.
* 'The Centinel,' 1757 fol., 1758 12mo, a periodical paper, one of the imitations of the 'Tatler' and 'Spectator.'
* 'A Dissertation on Ancient Tragedy,' 1760, given gratis to the subscribers to his translation of Sophocles.
* 'A Letter to a Bishop concerning Lectureships,' humour on the manner of election to such posts, and the miserable pay attaching thereto.
Between 1748 and 1779 Francklin printed nine single sermons preached on special occasions, including that delivered at
St George's, Bloomsbury, in May 1756, on the death of the Rev. John Sturges, from which it seems that he had hoped to succeed him. A volume of his sermons on ''The Relative Duties'' was published in 1765, and passed to a fourth edition in 1788.
He died without leaving much provision for his family, and in 1785 there appeared for his widow's benefit two volumes of ''Sermons on Various Subjects'', followed by a third in 1787. Francklin lent his name, in conjunction with Smollett, to a translation of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
's works and letters, but the ''Orestes'' (produced at Covent Garden Theatre 13 March 1769 for the benefit of Mrs. Yates) and the ''Electra'' (brought out at Drury Lane 15 October 1774) are believed to have been his sole share in the publication.
Some of his fugitive pieces were embodied in the ''Miscellaneous Pieces'' brought together by
Tom Davies, and there are many of his letters in the ''Garrick Correspondence''.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Francklin, Thomas
1721 births
1784 deaths
18th-century British writers
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
English translators
English dramatists and playwrights
English male journalists
18th-century English Anglican priests
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
English male dramatists and playwrights
18th-century English male writers
18th-century British translators
Regius Professors of Greek (Cambridge)