Alford, HENRY

Alford, HENRY, born in London in 1810, in 1829 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and having taken a good degree, and received orders, in 1834 was elected to a fellowship. His first volume, Poems and Poetical Fragments (1831), was followed by his most popular work, The School of the Heart, and other Poems (1835), which has been frequently re-issued, especially in America. About the same time he became vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire, where he remained till 1853, gradually enlarging the circle of his studies, and obtaining fresh literary distinction. In 1841 he published Chapters on the Greek Poets, a work which exhibits both purity of taste and breadth of scholarship. In 1844 appeared the first volume of his magnum opus, the Greek Testament with notes and various readings; the fourth was not published till 1861. In 1853 he removed to Quebec Chapel, London, where he continued to maintain his high reputation as a sound and eloquent preacher, until, in 1857, he was appointed Dean of Canterbury by Lord Palmerston. Among his writings was (1863) A Plea for the Queen's English, which excited considerable discussion. In all, his works comprise 48 volumes and 104 articles, some of the latter contributed to the Contemporary Review, of which he was the first editor (1866-70). Several of his hymns are widely popular, as 'Come, ye thankful people, come.' He died January 12, 1871. See the Life by his widow (1873).