Arthur Murphy (27 December 1727 – 18 June 1805), also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.

Biography

Murphy was born at Cloonyquin,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of I ...

, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French. He studied at the Jesuit-run College of Saint-Omer, France, and was a gifted student of the Latin and Greek classics. He worked as an actor in the theatre, became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

, a journalist and finally a (not very original) playwright. He edited '' Gray's Inn Journal'' between 1752 and 1754. As

Henry Thrale Henry Thrale (1724/1730?–4 April 1781) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1780. He was a close friend of Samuel Johnson. Like his father, he was the proprietor of the large London brewery H. Thrale & Co. B ...

's oldest and dearest friend, he introduced

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

to the Thrales in January 1765. He was appointed Commissioner of Bankruptcy in 1803. Murphy is known for his translations of Tacitus in 1753. They were still published in 1922. He wrote also three biographies: his 1792 ''

An Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson ''An Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.'' was written by Arthur Murphy and published in 1792. The work serves as a biography of Samuel Johnson and an introduction to his works included in the volume. Murphy also wrote a biogra ...

'', his 1762 '' Fielding's Works'' and his 1801 ''Life of

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

''. Murphy is thought to have coined the legal term ''"wilful misconstruction"'' whilst representing the ''Donaldson v. Becket'' appeal to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

in 1774 against the perpetual possession of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

. He died at

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancien ...

, London, and was buried at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, London. A biography was written in 1811 by Dr.

Jesse Foot Jesse Foot (1744 – 26 October 1826) was an English surgeon and biographer. Life Foot was born at Charlton, Brinkworth, Charlton, Wiltshire in 1744. He received a medical education in London, becoming a member of the Surgeons' Company, and abou ...

Nathaniel Dance Sir Nathaniel Dance (20 June 1748 – 25 March 1827) was an officer of the East India Company who had a long and varied career on merchant vessels, making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of East Indiamen. He was already awar ...

painted his portrait which is thought to now be in the Irish National Portrait Collection. His elder brother used his mother's surname and was known as

James Murphy French James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

(1725–59). He lived in London with his brother. Arthur Murphy was devoted to

Ann Elliot Ann Elliot (16 November 1743 – 30 May 1769) was a British courtesan and actress. She appeared in comedies in London and Dublin. She had relationships with her mentor Arthur Murphy, with Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol and with Prince He ...

and he missed her after her early death. After Arthur Murphy's death this relationship was written about by Fanny Burney who found Murphy's devotion to Elliot fascinating.

Murphy's drama

An example of Murphy's theatrical writings is ''The Citizen'', a farce, first produced at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks T ...

in 1761. The play included

as Maria. Ann was Murphy's protege and mistress. Philpot, a wealthy skinflint, has bargained with Sir Jasper Wilding, a fox hunter, for his son Young Philpot, a buck and wastrel, to marry Maria Wilding, and for his daughter Sally to marry Wilding's son, for settlements and twenty thousand pounds paid to Sir Jasper. Young Philpot has lost a fortune, but borrows money from his father and embarks on an insurance fraud involving shipwrecked goods. Maria plans to marry Beaufort, who loves her. As Young Philpot tries to propose, she convinces him she is half-witted, and he spurns her. In the second act, Philpot senior is visiting Corinna, a lady of loose virtue, but hides under the table when his son calls upon her. He overhears as Young Philpot tells her how he has cajoled the money out of his father. Maria's brother surprises them, and old Philpot is also discovered, to their mutual shame. In the final scene Sir Jasper with a lawyer obtains Philpot's signature to the agreements, but meanwhile Maria, an educated girl, shows her strong character to Young Philpot and he again refuses to propose. Having signed away his rights old Philpot offers to marry her, but the lawyer reveals himself as Beaufort, and explains that he has swapped the deeds, so that Philpot has unwittingly signed his agreement for Maria to marry Beaufort.

Works

Dramas

All dates refer to the play's first production, except where otherwise stated.Titles and dates of first productions taken from "A List of the Several Pieces Contained in This Edition", which appears at the start of volume one of ''The Works of Arthur Murphy'' (Murphy 1786). * ''The Apprentice'' * ''The Upholsterer'' (1758) * ''

The Orphan of China ''The Orphan of China'' is a 1759 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy, based on the traditional Chinese play ''The Orphan of Zhao'' with the setting moved forwards from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. Although his work, written fro ...

'' (1759),

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

(an adaption of '' L'Orphelin de la Chine'' (1755) by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

and its source, a translation of ''

The Orphan of Zhao ''The Orphan of Zhao'' is a Chinese play from the Yuan era, attributed to the 13th-century dramatist Ji Junxiang (紀君祥). The play has as its full name ''The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao''. The play is classified in the ''zaju'' genre ...

'') * ''

The Way to Keep Him ''The Way to Keep Him'' is a 1760 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. Originally three-acts in length, it premiered at the Drury Lane Theatre in a double bill with Murphy's ''The Desert Island''. Actor-manager David Garrick appeared i ...

'' (1760),

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

* ''The Desert Island'' (1760), dramatic poem * ''The Citizen'' (1761) * ''All in the Wrong'' (1761),

* ''The Old Maid'' (1761) * ''No One's Enemy But His Own'' (1764) * ''Three Weeks After Marriage'' (1764) * ''The Choice'' (1764) * ''The School for Guardians'' (1767) * ''

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the cit ...

'' (1768),

* ''

The Grecian Daughter ''The Grecian Daughter'' is a 1772 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. The original Drury Lane cast included Spranger Barry as Evander, Ann Street Barry as Euphrasia, John Palmer as Dionysius, Samuel Reddish as Philotus, Joseph Inchbal ...

'' (1772),

* ''Alzuma'' (1773),

* ''News from Parnassus, A Prelude'' (1776) * ''Know Your Own Mind'' (1777),

* ''The Rival Sisters'' (written 1783),

Biographies

* '' Fielding's Works'' (1762) * ''

'' (1792) * ''Life of

'' (1801)

Notes

Sources

* Emery, John Pike. 1946. ''Arthur Murphy: An Eminent English Dramatist of the Eighteenth Century''.

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 M ...

. ASIN B0006AQYEA. * Murphy, Arthur. 1786. ''The Works of Arthur Murphy, Esq. in Seven Volumes''. London: Cadell.
Volume One
is available to download on

Google books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

.) * Spector, Robert Donald. 1979. ''Arthur Murphy.'' Twain. .

External links

Arthur Murphy
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Arthur 1727 births 1805 deaths People from County Roscommon Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish barristers Streathamites 18th-century Irish writers 18th-century Irish male writers 19th-century Irish writers