TOOKE, JOIIN HORNE, a celebrated English au thor, was born in Westminster in June 1736, and was the third son of a poulterer in Newport mar ket. From Westminster school he went to Eton, where he remained five or six years, and at which he lost one of his eyes. In 1755 he entered St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his de gree of B. A. After officiating as usher in Mr. Jenning's school at Blackheath, he took doctor's orders, and obtained a curacy in Kent. His prefer ence, however, of the law led him to enter as a stu dent at the Inner Temple in 1756; but he was in duced in 1760 to take church orders, and he preached for three years in the Chapelry of New Brentford, which his father had purchased for him. He afterwards accompanied to France the son of Mr. Elwes the celebrated miser.
His political life began in 1765, when he de fended 'Wilkes and his friends in an anonymous pamphlet, entitled The Petition of an Englishman, and on his return to Paris he had an opportunity of making the acquaintance of that celebrated dem agogue. A quarrel, however, again separated them in 1770, which arose out of some pecuniary trans action connected with the society which Horne had established for supporting the bill of rights. In 1771 our author took his degree of M.A. at Cam bridge, in doing which he was opposed by some of the members of the University, among whom was Mr. Paley. About this time he made great exer tions to have the debates in the House of Commons published in the daily papers, and his success was doubtless owing to the aid he received from Wilkes and Almon. In 1771 Mr. Horne was at tacked by Junius, to whom he replied in two very able letters, which are published in the works of that mysterious name. In 1773 he formally re signed his living, and devoted himself to the pro fession of the bar. An accident, however, now oc curred which influenced his future fortune. Mr. Tooke of Purley in Surry, had made an ineffectual opposition to an inclosure bill which was passing rapidly through the house, and which he regarded as highly injurious to his estate. In this emer gency he consulted Mr. Horne, who recommended the strange remedy of a libel upon the Speaker, which he undertook to write. It accordingly ap peared in the Public Advertiser. As the avowed author of it, Mr. Horne was called to the bar of the House, and he respectfully acknowledged that his hatred of oppression and his zeal for a friend had led him beyond the limits of discretion. He was placed in the custody of the Sergeant at Arms for some days, and finally discharged on paying the fees. Time was thus obtained for reconsidering the obnoxious bill, and it is said that some of the excep tionable clauses were either modified or cancelled.
Mr. Tooke's gratitude for his friendly services in duced hint to hold out to him the prospect of tes tamentary remuneration ; and in consequence of this Colonel Harwood, the nephew of Mr. Tooke, agreed with Mr. Horne to divide equally their joint interest in the reversion of the estate of Purley. According to one of his biographers this division took place, but according to others, Mr. Horne never received more than X8000 from the property, (though he adopted the name of Tooke in 1782) the principal legatee being a Mr. Beaseley.
:Mr Horne was, as might have been expected, a keen opposer of the American war, and when the constitutional society voted X100 to the widows of the Americans who fell in the battle of Lexington, the fact was announced in an advertisement signed John Horne, in which the sufferers were denomina ted " Englishmen who, preferring death to slavery, were, for that reason only, inhumanly murdered by the king's troops.'' For this libel he was tried at Guildhall in 1777, and notwithstanding the ability of his defence, he was fined £100 and imprisoned twelve months.
Mr. Horne's acuteness as a grammatical critic first appeared during this trial, and in 1778 he pub lished a letter to Mr. Dunning to investigate the meaning of certain conjunctions and prepositions used in his indictment. In 1779 the society of the Inner Temple refused to admit him to the bar, on the ground of his being a clergyman. Exasperated at this disappointment, he wreaked his vengeance on the government, and in 1780 he published a pam phlet entitled " Facts," containing a severe review of Lord North's administration, and including two chapters on Finance by Dr Price. In 1782, when the topic of parliamentary reform became popular, he addressed to Lord Ashburton (Mr. Dunning) " A Letter on Parliamentary Reform, containing the sketch of a plan." In 1786 he published his great work under the title of .1:77fx 77-regoEvra, or Diversions of Purley, from the residence of his friend Mr. Tooke. This work, consisting of a number of grammatical dissertations, was founded on his first letter to Mr. Dunning, and has gained its author a high name among modern philologists.' In 1787 he published a Letter to the Prince of Miles, on his supposed marriage with a catholic. In 17E8 he printed a political pamphlet entitled " Two Pair of Portraits," in reference to the two Pitts and the two Foxes. his object was to serve the cause of Mr. Pitt.