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Sir JOHN HARRINGTON,

Born at Kelston near the city of Bath, was the son of John Harrington
esquire, who was imprisoned in the Tower in the reign of Queen Mary,
for holding a correspondence with the Lady Elizabeth; with whom he was
in great favour after her accession to the crown, and received many
testimonies of her bounty and gratitude. Sir John, our author, had the
honour to be her god-son, and both in respect to his father's merit,
and his own, he was so happy to possess her esteem to the last[1].
He had the rudiments of his education at Eaton; thence removing to
Cambridge, he there commenced master of arts, and before he arrived at
his 30th year, he favoured the world with a translation of the Orlando
Furioso of Ariosto, by which he acquired some reputation. After this
work, he composed four books of epigrams, which in those times were
received with great applause; several of these mention another
humorous piece of his called Misacmos Metatmorphosis, which for a
while exposed him to her Majesty's resentment, yet he was afterwards
received into favour. This (says Mrs. Cooper) is not added to the rest
of his works, and therefore she supposes was only meant for a Court
amusement, not the entertainment of the public, or the increase of
his fame. In the reign of King James I. he was created Knight of the
Bath[2], and presented a manuscript to Prince Henry, called a Brief
View of the State of the Church of England, as it stood in Queen
Elizabeth and King James's reign in the year 1608. This piece was
levelled chiefly against the married bishops, and was intended only
for the private use of his Highness, but was some years afterwards
published by one of Sir John's grandsons, and occasioned much
displeasure from the clergy, who did not fail to recollect that his
conduct was of a piece with his doctrines, as he, together with Robert
earl of Leicester, supported Sir Walter Raleigh in his suit to Queen
Elizabeth for the manor of Banwell, belonging to the bishopric of Bath
and Wells, on the presumption that the right reverend incumbent had
incurred a Premunire, by marrying a second wife.

Sir John appears to be a gentleman of great pleasantry and humour;
his fortune was easy, the court his element, and which is ever an
advantage to an author, wit was not his business, but diversion: 'Tis
not to be doubted, but his translation of Ariosto was published after
Spenser's Fairy Queen, and