Samuel Horsley

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Samuel Horsley

by Walter Stephens Lethbridge
watercolour and bodycolour on ivory, circa 1803
3 3/8 in. x 2 5/8 in. (86 mm x 67 mm) oval
Purchased, 1863
Primary Collection
NPG 155

Sitterback to top

  • Samuel Horsley (1733-1806), Bishop of St Asaph; Secretary of the Royal Society. Sitter in 11 portraits.

Artistback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 264
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 315
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 73 Read entry

    Bishop Horsley, 'his eyes and complexion dark as a raven', was elected FRS in 1767 in recognition of his studies in astronomy and geometry, which led to his edition of the Works of Isaac Newton (1799-1805). As a theologian he became known especially for his famous dispute with fellow theologian and scientist Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), but his main claim to fame lay in two resounding speeches in the House of Lords, one (January 1793) exposing the perils of the French Revolution, the other ending with: 'In this country, my Lords ... the individual subject ... has nothing to do with the laws but to obey them.'

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1803back to top

Current affairs

The Vice Society is formally established by John Reeves and his associates to campaign against blasphemy and immorality, particularly that perpetrated by Thomas Paine and the Edinburgh Review.

Art and science

Erasmus Darwin's Temple of Nature published posthumously. A scientific treaty in the form of an elaborate couplet poem, its content anticipated some of the evolutionary ideas developed by his grandson, Charles Darwin, fifty years later.
Construction of the Caledonian Canal begins.

International

War with France resumes, sparking new fears of a cross-channel invasion.
United Irishman, Robert Emmett's attempted uprising in Dublin. Planned to coincide with Napoleon's expected invasion, it aimed to overthrow the English administration but ended in failure. Emmett is hanged along with several other conspirators.

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