HAHINGTON, Sir 1561-1612; queen Elizabeth's godson. He studied at Eton and at Christ college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A., his tutor being bishop Still, the famous author of Gammer GUriV71,'S Needle. He came to about 1583 and studied law, but queen Elizabeth seems to have transferred him to a place at court. It is said that it was at her command that he translated Ariosto's Orlando 1°arioso, 1591. In 1590 he published in succession The Metamorphosis of Ajax; An Apology; and Ulysses upon ileax; the three forming collectively a very absurd and indecorous work of a pantagrnelistic kind. In 1599 he served in Ireland under Essex, and was knighted on the field, to the annoyance, it is said, of Elizabeth. In 1609 lie wrote a personal satire the bishops, which he read to James L, but which was first published, by a Presbyterian printer, as late as 1653, under the title of A Brief. Virtu
if the State of the Church. In 1613 his Epigrams, which had circulated widely in 34S., were printed in a collection of verses of various writers entitled Alcilia, and separately in 1015. They became very popular and were often repriiited. '1'lle miscellaneous writings of Harington were collected by the rev. Henryrklarington in 1779, in 2 vols., under the title of .Nagle Antiques. The .iVtr,ryce includes some very elegant pieces of poetry of the poet's father. The translation of Orlando Furioso was a very important labor, and it was carried out with skill and perseverance. Harington, however, was neither a very exact scholar nor a very poetical translator. The Orlando Furioso was a sumptuous book, illustrated in the best taste of the day, and to it were appended a prose critique of the poem, and a life of Ariosto compiled from various Italian sources.