Horsley died suddenly, of apoplexy, on the 12th of January 1732, his constitution having been in all likelihood pre maturely worn out by the toil he had undergone in the composition of the Britannia Romana, then on the eve of publication. The following extract from the burial register of the parish of Morpeth gives the date of his interment : " 173J, Jan. 15, Mr John Horsley;" but the site of his grave is unknown. Besides the Britannia Romana, Horsley published two sermons and a hand-book to his lectures on mechanics, &c. He also projected a history of Northum berland and Durham, collections for which were found among his papers. By his wife, a daughter of the Rev. William Hamilton, D.D., minister of Cramond, afterwards professor of divinity in the university of Edinburgh, he had one son and two daughters.
HORSLEY, Samuel (1733–1806), a learned Anglican prelate, was born in London in 1733. Entering Trinity College, Cambridge, he became LL.B. in 1758 without graduating in arts, and in the following year succeeded his father in the living of Newington Butts in Surrey. Horsley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767 ; but, in consequence of a difference with the president, he withdrew from it in 1784. He had been secretary since 1773. In 1768 he attended the eldest son of the earl of Aylesford to Oxford as private tutor ; and, after receiving through the earl and Bishop Lowth various minor prefer ments, which by dispensations he combined with his first living, he was installed in 1781 as archdeacon of St Albans. In 1774 the university of Oxford conferred on him the degree of LL.D. Whilst archdeacon, Horsley entered upon his famous controversy with the Socinian, Dr Priestley, who denied that the early Christians held the doctrine of the Trinity. In this controversy, conducted on both sides in the fiercest polemical spirit, Horsley showed the superior learning and ability. His aim was to lessen the influence which the prestige of Priestley s name gave to his views, by proving from his writings the latter s incom petence through ignorance to form an authoritative judg ment on the disputed points. For the energy displayed in the contest Horsley was rewarded by Lord Chancellor Thurlow with a prebendal stall at Gloucester ; and in 1788 the same patron procured his promotion to the episcopal see of St David s. As a bishop, Horsley was energetic both in his diocese and in parliament. The efficient support which he afforded the Government in the latter place was acknowledged by his successive translations to Rochester in 1793, and to St Asaph in 1802. With the bishopric of Rochester he held the deanery of Westminster. He died at Brighton on October 4, 1806.
Besides the controversial Tracts, which appeared in 1783-84-86, and were rcpublished in 1789 and 1812, Horsley s more import ant works are : Apollonii Pcrgcei Inclinationum Libri duo, 1770 ; Remarks on the Observations . . . for determining the acceleration of the Pendulum in Lat. 70 51 , 1774; Isaaci Newtoni Opera quce extant Omnia, with a commentary, 5 vols. 4to, 1779-84 ; On the Properties of the Greek and Latin Languages, 1798; Disquisitions on Isaiah xviii., 1796; Hosea, translated from the Hebrew, with Notes, 1801 ; Elementary Treatises on . . . . Mathematics, 1801 ; Endidis Elementorum Libri priores XII., 1802; Euclidis Datorum Liber, 1803; Virgil s Two Seasons of Honey, &c., 1805; and papers in the Philosophical Transactions from 1767 to 1776. Since his death have appeared Sermons, 1810-12; Speeches in Parliament, 1813; Book of Psalms, translated with Notes, 1815; Biblical Criti cism, 1820; Collected Theological Works, 6 vols. 8vo, 1845. See Nichol s Literary Anecdotes, vol. iv.
HORSLEY, William (1774–1858), an English musician of considerable reputation, was born November 15, 1774, and became in 1790 the pupil of Theodore Smith, an in different musician of the time, who, however, taught him sufficient to obtain the position of organist at Ely Chapel, Holborn. This post he resigned in 1798, to become organist at the Asylum for Female Orphans, as assistant to Dr Callcott, with whom he had long been on terms of personal and artistic intimacy, and whose eldest daughter he married. In 1802 he became his friend s successor upon the latter s resignation. Besides holding this appoint ment he became in 1812 organist of Belgrave Chapel, Halkin Street, and in 1 837 of the Charter House. He died June 12, 1858. Horsley s compositions are numerous, and include amongst other instrumental pieces three symphonies for full orchestra. Infinitely more important are his glees, of which he published five books, besides con tributing many detached glees and part songs to various collections. Mr Barrett, in his lecture on "English glee and madrigal writers," calls Horsley " one of the princes amongst glee writers," and attributes to him " a fine and powerful dramatic aim and an elegant taste." Horsley s compositions are moreover distinguished by a remarkable purity of style, which sometimes verges on pedantry. His glees, " By Celia s arbour," " O nightingale," " Now the storm begins to lower," and others, are amongst the finest specimens of this peculiarly English class of com positions. Horsley s son (Charles Edward), born in 1822, enjoyed a certain reputation as a musician. He studied in Germany under Hauptmann and Mendelssohn, and on his return to England composed several oratorios and other pieces, none of which had permanent success. In 1868 he emigrated to Australia. He died March 2, 1876, at New York.
HORTEN (Karljohanswærn), a seaport town of Norway, in the amt of Jarlsberg-Laurvig, is beautifully situated on the west bank of the Christiania fjord, opposite Moss, and 32 miles south of Christiania. It is defended by strong fortifications, is the headquarters of the Norwegian fleet, and possesses an arsenal and shipbuilding yards, as well as a real school, a national school of the higher grade, an observatory, a nautical museum, and an infirmary. It also carries on a considerable shipping trade. The population, which in 1836 did not exceed 200, was 5457 in 1875.
